Visionary Move by the JTB!

[Historian]

Surely Ed Bartlett must be one of Jamaica’s most “impressively performing” cabinet ministers in recent times! Think back to what he has obviously set out to do, along with his achievements, since last September and you’ll no doubt agree that his appointment as Tourism Minister was one of the best things that has happened to Jamaica! Much respect to this man and his hardworking team at the Jamaica Tourist Board!

Jamaica targets events marketing to boost visitor arrivals


Friday, February 27, 2009

The Jamaican government is targeting events marketing as a means of boosting visitor arrivals, and a team headed by Deputy Director of Tourism, Zachary Harding, has been assigned to develop a framework to guide events tourism strategies and policies for the industry.

Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett, speaking in a recent interview, said that two experts from United Kingdom, who are competent in the area of events tourism, will be visiting the island to assist in the process.

"These experts are the finest in the world in this area. One of them is the person who successfully negotiated the last two Olympic Games and the World Cup (of football) for destinations across the world," he informed.

He said that the experts "will not only (help to) develop this strategy, but also start the detailed planning for the first World Beach Sprint to be held in Negril in November of this year."

According to Bartlett, events related to sports, health and wellness, and music are "strong passion points", which can lure more visitors to destination Jamaica.

"In times such as these, people will travel to realise their passions. They have to be driven by some deeper value. When they have choices to make in terms of how to use their diminishing dollar, your destination must be impelling them to travel to you," he argued.

Highlighting the impact of music in boosting the sector, Bartlett said that the recently held Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival was a major contributor to the significant increase in tourist arrivals for January.

He said that there was a major spike in tourist arrivals towards the end of the month, when the festival was held.

"At the first week of January, we were down 6.4 per cent; the second week, we were down 0.3 per cent; the following week, we were up 1.3 per cent, then 1.8 per cent and the three days following that, we were up 51.1 per cent," the Minister outlined.

"The point is that, we saw the spike during the two weeks when the festival took place and if it were not for the staging of the festival, the overall growth in arrivals in January would not have happened," he stated, noting that hotels in the Montego Bay area, both large and small, were full to capacity during that time.

According to the tourism minister, "Our involvement with major events, starting with the new Jamaica Jazz and Blues, is not about contributing to activities around the town, but a strategic engagement, based on building events, that will attract large numbers of visitors into the country."

He added that the overall plan is to identify four to five major events every year, which could become calendar events.

"We could start marketing and promoting these events from early in the year, get them into our tour operators' diaries across the globe, get them into our advertising and marketing programme to assist in bringing more heads to beds, more lookers into bookers and more feet to the streets of Jamaica," he stated.

Bartlett said that the Negril beach sprint will highlight Jamaica as a leading lifestyle travel destination, and a country of sporting excellence.
In marketing the country as a sports destination, focus will be placed on key sports such as athletics, cricket, football, netball and golf.

[HL]

I went to the Jazz and Blues festival ( for the last nights' performance).

Folks on this site all know I pull no punches when I criticize Jamaica.

But the overall arrangment of the Jazz and Blues Festival was first class!!! I was highly impressed!!!

I have also been known to criticize Ed Bartlett. I am going to give him a temporary reprieve.

[Don1]

Surely Ed Bartlett must be one of Jamaica’s most “impressively performing” cabinet ministers in recent times! Think back to what he has obviously set out to do, along with his achievements, since last September and you’ll no doubt agree that his appointment as Tourism Minister was one of the best things that has happened to Jamaica! Much respect to this man and his hardworking team at the Jamaica Tourist Board!

Jamaica targets events marketing to boost visitor arrivals


Friday, February 27, 2009

The Jamaican government is targeting events marketing as a means of boosting visitor arrivals, and a team headed by Deputy Director of Tourism, Zachary Harding, has been assigned to develop a framework to guide events tourism strategies and policies for the industry.

Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett, speaking in a recent interview, said that two experts from United Kingdom, who are competent in the area of events tourism, will be visiting the island to assist in the process.

"These experts are the finest in the world in this area. One of them is the person who successfully negotiated the last two Olympic Games and the World Cup (of football) for destinations across the world," he informed.

He said that the experts "will not only (help to) develop this strategy, but also start the detailed planning for the first World Beach Sprint to be held in Negril in November of this year."

According to Bartlett, events related to sports, health and wellness, and music are "strong passion points", which can lure more visitors to destination Jamaica.

"In times such as these, people will travel to realise their passions. They have to be driven by some deeper value. When they have choices to make in terms of how to use their diminishing dollar, your destination must be impelling them to travel to you," he argued.

Highlighting the impact of music in boosting the sector, Bartlett said that the recently held Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival was a major contributor to the significant increase in tourist arrivals for January.

He said that there was a major spike in tourist arrivals towards the end of the month, when the festival was held.

"At the first week of January, we were down 6.4 per cent; the second week, we were down 0.3 per cent; the following week, we were up 1.3 per cent, then 1.8 per cent and the three days following that, we were up 51.1 per cent," the Minister outlined.

"The point is that, we saw the spike during the two weeks when the festival took place and if it were not for the staging of the festival, the overall growth in arrivals in January would not have happened," he stated, noting that hotels in the Montego Bay area, both large and small, were full to capacity during that time.

According to the tourism minister, "Our involvement with major events, starting with the new Jamaica Jazz and Blues, is not about contributing to activities around the town, but a strategic engagement, based on building events, that will attract large numbers of visitors into the country."

He added that the overall plan is to identify four to five major events every year, which could become calendar events.

"We could start marketing and promoting these events from early in the year, get them into our tour operators' diaries across the globe, get them into our advertising and marketing programme to assist in bringing more heads to beds, more lookers into bookers and more feet to the streets of Jamaica," he stated.

Bartlett said that the Negril beach sprint will highlight Jamaica as a leading lifestyle travel destination, and a country of sporting excellence.
In marketing the country as a sports destination, focus will be placed on key sports such as athletics, cricket, football, netball and golf.

This particular UWI grad seems to be a hard worker and an effective advocate for tourism.

That said I would hardly call this focus on events visionary or believe that he is the saviour of the industry.

Jamaica has just completed a 10 year cycle of massive and unprecedented additions to our room stock... so it is natural that arrivals would be inclined to increase. Also he has spent many millions on advertising and giveaways to get airlift (i'm not critcizing this ..just stating facts)

What we should be a little more more interested in is:

1. Room occupancy overall... is it rising or falling year on year?
2. What is the year on year analysis of the performance of hotels (those open at least one year).. i.e. discounting the impact of new rooms coming on line in the past year.

If we drill down a little deeper such data will give a more insightful indicator of performance.

[Historian]

Not Visionary?

This particular UWI grad seems to be a hard worker and an effective advocate for tourism.

That said I would hardly call this focus on events visionary or believe that he is the saviour of the industry.

Jamaica has just completed a 10 year cycle of massive and unprecedented additions to our room stock... so it is natural that arrivals would be inclined to increase. Also he has spent many millions on advertising and giveaways to get airlift (i'm not critcizing this ..just stating facts).

First of all, making the unprecedented step of hiring those two British consultants (described as “the finest in the world in this area”) is a move in the right direction. Certainly we can have no idea at this stage how effective they will be, but at the very least symbolically it demonstrates the government’s determination to move on to another level.

Secondly, having an event which is seemingly designed to be high profile and truly international, the “World Beach Sprint” seems, in my opinion, qualified to fall in the category of “visionary” move. It is rather a pity that someone like Portia Simpson-Miller, who had the combined portfolios of Sports and Tourism Minister during our impressive performance at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, didn’t demonstrate any sort of vision in the face of our successes!

By the way, isn’t spending “many millions on advertising and giveaways to get airlift” absolutely necessary in a situation where every island in the Caribbean, without exception) are trying to lure visitors to their shores?
Jamaica’s launching of its multi million-dollar advertising campaign (maybe only US$3 million, but I am open to correction on this figure) is obviously being done in an effort to get tourists to visit our island once again after the recent decreases. Not only the USA, but also Canada and Europe are being targeted.

Jamaica: Four Per Cent Growth in Tourist Arrivals in 2008

• <LI class=Author>By SC Admin <LI class=Time>Published 14-Jan-09 <LI class=Categ>Financial Crisis , Travel/Tourism
• Rating: Unrated

(photo: Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett (left), converses with the President of the Rotary Club of Kingston, Christopher Issa during the club's luncheon held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel recently)

Kingston -- Jan. 14, 2009 -- Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has said that despite the economic downturn in the major markets overseas, Jamaica experienced a four per cent growth in tourist arrivals last year and earned US$2 billion in revenue.

"Last year, we ended the difficult year with a four per cent increase over 2007. We welcomed 1,757,000 visitors to the island, which was 63,000 more than the previous year," the Tourism Minister revealed at a Rotary Club of Kingston luncheon, held recently at the Pegasus hotel in Kingston.
He said that the United States (US) continued to dominate the market, accounting for 65 per cent of arrivals, which represented an increase of 1.2 per cent over the previous year. "This is significant because the US suffered the greatest impact of the downturn in the global economy," Minister Bartlett remarked.

Special mention was also made of Canada, which was the biggest growth market, with arrivals from that country increasing by a whopping 53 per cent in the month of November.

window.google_render_ad();
Minister Bartlett credited the improved performance of the sector to intense advertising, marketing and promotion of the island overseas.

As to the way forward, he outlined several initiatives, which have been implemented to boost the sector, including a major promotion at the Port Authority Centre in Manhattan, New York last week, where destination Jamaica was displayed on posters and banners. The move, he said, was "to say to not only New York but the entire tri-state area that Jamaica is the place to go when you are cold."

"We had Brand Jamaica all over the Port Authority, which is the largest hub of commuter activity in the world," the Tourism Minister pointed out. "Our images and messages were seen by five million eyes," he added.

Minister Bartlett noted that the promotion will continue with the branding of "every taxi in Manhattan.every dollar cab in the ethnic communities in Flat Bush, East Bronx, and the Borrows of New York."

The Minister also informed that several airlift arrangements have been made to secure and increase flights into the island from existing and emerging markets.

"West Jet Airlines has increased the number of flights to Jamaica. We have brought a new flight out of Vancouver, Canada, received confirmation from Virgin Atlantic for additional flights later on this year and a new flight is to be announced by one of the large American airlines," Minister Bartlett outlined.

He stated that "it is the sector's business to see how we can shape our own strategies in Jamaica to maximise the opportunities that our rapidly changing landscape presents.

[HL]

...so if you know all this--why don't you give the good minister and his ministry a helping hand...?

[Tilla]

Apart from a UWI grad, he is also a STETHS man.

[Historian]

Agree!

...so if you know all this--why don't you give the good minister and his ministry a helping hand...?

Good question, HL !

[Don1]

[quote=Historian;153426]First of all, making the unprecedented step of hiring those two British consultants (described as “the finest in the world in this area”) is a move in the right direction. Certainly we can have no idea at this stage how effective they will be, but at the very least symbolically it demonstrates the government’s determination to move on to another level.

I have no problem with the hiring of consultants (so called best in the world but don't believe the hype). Hiring consultants is routine... definitely not visionary.

Secondly, having an event which is seemingly designed to be high profile and truly international, the “World Beach Sprint” seems, in my opinion, qualified to fall in the category of “visionary” move. It is rather a pity that someone like Portia Simpson-Miller, who had the combined portfolios of Sports and Tourism Minister during our impressive performance at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, didn’t demonstrate any sort of vision in the face of our successes!

World Beach Sprint is a good idea... let's see how and if it pans out. As I'm not here to defend politicians, Portia Simpson's efforts have no interest to me.
I don't find any of the current crop on either side to be visionary... but then, my standards may be too high.

By the way, isn’t spending “many millions on advertising and giveaways to get airlift” absolutely necessary in a situation where every island in the Caribbean, without exception) are trying to lure visitors to their shores?
Jamaica’s launching of its multi million-dollar advertising campaign (maybe only US$3 million, but I am open to correction on this figure) is obviously being done in an effort to get tourists to visit our island once again after the recent decreases. Not only the USA, but also Canada and Europe are
being targeted.

As I said in my post I was just noting the facts.. not criticizing the expenditure.. which all Tourism ministers try to do to encourage business.. nothing visionary or innovative there.... but then, my standards may be too high.



You have not addressed the recent massive expansion in rooms which the country (and Bartlett's apparently stellar image) has benefited from... and he had nothing to do with.

He is energetic and effective.... maybe just being that in Jamaica makes him visionary.

The point here is that to perceive truth we have to look beyond the often superficial statements of politicians.

[Don1]

...so if you know all this--why don't you give the good minister and his ministry a helping hand...?

As I have a small stake in the tourism business.... I guess I do! But thanks for the concern.

[Don1]

Apart from a UWI grad, he is also a STETHS man.

All the better!

[Assasin]

As you know I called out Ed Bartlett early but as Don1 said I am easily impressed.

At first I never thought Barlett would be a good tourism minister based on the fact that I am not aware of his tourism experience and his representation of a garrison community in Kingston however he has proved me wrong. He came to Mobay and had time to study the industry and work with the movers and shakers and is providing leadership.

When the downturn started even the players in the industry panicked. He provided leadership and now there is ONLY two islands in the caribbean I know that had increase in tourism, these are Cuba and Jamaica. Even the Bahamas has been affected badly as some countries are seeing as much as 30% decline. Bartlett targetted a 10% increase last year but with the downturn it is wasn't possible. Barlett is trying to open new markets in Eastern Europe, Mid East, China and South America and Central by getting direct flights to Jamaica and adding attractions. He has hired Zachary Harding(Jermey Harding of Sean Paul crew and Ossie Harding son) to help him with this and he seems to be doing a good job of that and Web based ideas.

I wish Bartlett the best, maybe because of my tourism experience, but there has been no other Tourism minister like him since 1972 in my books as they usually just meet and greet with visitors and industry players.

[Historian]

That's Right!

Excellent post, Assasin! I’m in agreement with your comments here!

My surprise regarding last year’s tourism figures for the Caribbean is that the Dominican Republic did not have growth as well.

As you know I called out Ed Bartlett early but as Don1 said I am easily impressed.

At first I never thought Barlett would be a good tourism minister based on the fact that I am not aware of his tourism experience and his representation of a garrison community in Kingston however he has proved me wrong. He came to Mobay and had time to study the industry and work with the movers and shakers and is providing leadership.

When the downturn started even the players in the industry panicked. He provided leadership and now there is ONLY two islands in the caribbean I know that had increase in tourism, these are Cuba and Jamaica. Even the Bahamas has been affected badly as some countries are seeing as much as 30% decline. Bartlett targetted a 10% increase last year but with the downturn it is wasn't possible. Barlett is trying to open new markets in Eastern Europe, Mid East, China and South America and Central by getting direct flights to Jamaica and adding attractions. He has hired Zachary Harding(Jermey Harding of Sean Paul crew and Ossie Harding son) to help him with this and he seems to be doing a good job of that and Web based ideas.

I wish Bartlett the best, maybe because of my tourism experience, but there has been no other Tourism minister like him since 1972 in my books as they usually just meet and greet with visitors and industry players.

[Muadib]

"Jamaica has just completed a 10 year cycle of massive and unprecedented additions to our room stock... "

LOL !! WHOEEE !!

Den di man tun round and talk bout him 'high' standards...

Slip dragging in the mud now....

[Don1]

"Jamaica has just completed a 10 year cycle of massive and unprecedented additions to our room stock... "

LOL !! WHOEEE !!

Den di man tun round and talk bout him 'high' standards...

Slip dragging in the mud now....

I can believe that you wear a slip JFLAGist.... I don't.

Don't believe the hotel expansion is real?
Better advise your government agencies to stop trumpeting it then.

[Muadib]

Yes Mr. "my standards too high"....

When it suit yuh...

LOL !!