Jamaica unveils ‘70 Days of Love’ travel campaign in NYC
Discounted packages and airfare deals mark JTB’s 70th anniversary
Published:Friday | June 6, 2025 | 12:09 AMJanet Silvera/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
To mark its 70th anniversary, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) has launched a landmark campaign titled ‘70 Days of Love’, offering deep discounts on travel to Jamaica through April 2026.
Unveiled at a dazzling celebration at the Hard Rock Hotel in Manhattan on Wednesday night, the promotion includes up to 35 per cent off airfare, and four-night, five-day all-inclusive vacation packages starting at just US$599. Bookings must be made by August 12, 2025. For details and reservations, prospective visitors are encouraged to visit www.visitjamaica.com.
Participating hotel partners include RIU, Breathless Resort, Secrets, Iberostar, Royalton Negril, and Grand Palladium, while airline partners such as Southwest, American Airlines, Spirit, and Caribbean Airlines have joined the effort to make travel more accessible and enticing.
“This is our expression of gratitude and love to our partners, diaspora, and loyal visitors,” said Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett. “We are inviting the world to come and experience Jamaica not just as a destination – but as an emotion.”
The campaign was launched during Caribbean Week in New York at a cultural showcase hosted by the JTB, which blended elegant hospitality with Jamaica’s signature rhythm and grit.
Philip Rose, deputy director of tourism, called the event a turning point: “Caribbean Week in New York will never be the same again. Jamaica has once again set the standard.”
‘AUTHENTIC JAMAICAN’ ENTERTAINMENT
The evening’s entertainment was anchored in the raw, poetic honesty of dancehall – what Bartlett described as “authentically Jamaican” – and designed to send a global message that Jamaica is unafraid to lead with its truth.
Renowned dancehall artiste Busy Signal delivered a commanding performance. At one point the audience became his choir. His electrifying set was complemented by the legendary Stone Love sound system while Reggae Sumfest’s Joe Bogdanovich revealed exciting updates about the upcoming summer festival, which is expected to boost tourism arrivals in July.
Bartlett used the occasion to highlight Jamaica’s performance in the global tourism market.
“Montego Bay remains the number one tourism resort in the English-speaking Caribbean,” he declared, adding that Negril, ‘the Capital of Casual’, is now responsible for nearly one-third of Jamaica’s US$4.5 billion in annual earnings.
Reflecting on the journey from 1955, when Jamaica welcomed just 100,000 visitors, to 2024’s 4.3 million arrivals, Bartlett underscored the sector’s evolution from colonial leisure to economic powerhouse.
He credited Jamaica’s rapid post-COVID 19 rebound to the strength and innovation of its people and partners.
The minister also outlined next steps, including new luxury investments, a requirement for large hotels to provide worker housing and continued development of training institutions like the Gastronomy and Entertainment Academies.
“We want every tourist eating Jamaican, drinking Jamaican, being entertained by Jamaicans,” Bartlett said, “because that’s how we keep the dollars flowing to our people.”
The event, which was attended by an impressive group of tourism ministers and directors from the rest of the Caribbean, saw Jamaica receiving recognition from the Caribbean Tourism Organisation for its role in leading tourism on a global stage.