West Indies Tour And Official Opening Of Jamaican Factory

British Bata Shoes executives tour the West Indies.

Shot by John Tusa, whose father was managing director of the British arm of the Bata Shoes company, this film records a trip undertaken by Bata executives to assess the company's West Indies operation and their attendance at the official opening of a new factory in Kingston, Jamaica. Flying from England in a BOAC Boing 377, the group stop for re-fuelling on the island of Bermuda, before continuing on to Barbados, where they visit numerous Bata retail outlets, meet local employees and visit locations across Bridgetown. Another flight takes the group to Grenada, where they visit more stores, including an outlet on Gore Street in the capital St George's. In Trinidad, the group visit industrial zones, passing the refineries of the Trinidad Oil Company and visit more retail stores in the capital, Port-of-Spain. Whilst in Trinidad, they also visit the Jinnah Memorial Mosque and the site of a Bata warehouse which is still under construction. Arriving in Jamaica, the group meet up with other Bata executives for a tour of the new factory in Kingston, before visiting stores across the country. Arriving back at the factory, they participate in the official opening ceremony, and visit more stores including one which bears the company's slogan: "Bata: Worn the World Over".

Featured Buildings

Bermuda Air Terminal (now L.F. Wade International Airport); Pearls Airport, Grenada; Jinnah Memorial Mosque, Trinidad

Keywords

Industry; Overseas; Tourism

Other Places

St George's, Bermuda; Bridgetown, Barbados; St George's, Grenada; Port-of-Spain, Trinidad; Kingston, Jamaica

Background Information

John Tusa was named after his father, who was the managing director of Bata Shoes' British arm. John Tusa went on to work for the BBC, presenting Newsnight and 24 Hours and later serving as managing director of the World Service. He has also been heavily involved in the arts, serving as managing director of the Barbican Arts Centre and chairman of the board at the Wigmore Hall, amongst other roles. [SOURCE: Wikipedia].