HANOVER:
THE JAMAICA Tourist Board (JTB) will be relaunching its marketing campaign overseas and locally by the end of this month to re-energise the island's tourism product, according to Dennis Morrison, the board's chairman.
Against the background of tensions caused by the war in Iraq, which has put a damper on world travel and tourism, Mr. Morrison said that several strategies were now being undertaken to reinvigorate the sector.
Speaking at the Negril Chamber of Commerce's 20th anniversary celebration at the Negril Hills Golf Club on Saturday night, he said, "Our immediate concern, following the relatively short hiatus in the Middle East, is to get back into the market aggressively and appropriately."
He said "Plans by the Jamaica Tourist Board are well advanced to do just that" and "we are expecting that by the end of this month, going into May and June, a strong multi-dimensional marketing, both overseas and on the island, will take place in collaboration with the Jamaica Hotel and
Tourist Association and other industry partners."
According to Mr. Morrison, mass appeal advertising "in our major markets will resume, backed by sales blitzes, currently being mobilised by the board's overseas representatives."
He said the stage was being set for three consecutive weeks of multi-station radio promotion, entailing "up to 20 overseas stations, broadcasting live to our fertile market. This will be accompanied by mass travel agent fly-ins to specific resort areas to position Jamaica in the marketplace."
Mr. Morrison called on members of the Chamber of Commerce to look even more closely at the eco-tourism possibilities of Negril's great morass and royal palm reserve.
