‘It’s about time’

In his presentation at the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) 70th Anniversary Cocktails Reception, at Devon House on the evening of Thursday, May 22, Director of Tourism Donovan White showed a montage of JTB advertisements over the years. In one of the clips, Jamaican track legend Usain Bolt is sprinting across Jamaica, including up Dunn’s River Falls.

In the audience, watching himself, Bolt sat. Earlier in the evening, he was spotted, surrounded by admirers, and, of course, the paparazzi. There were also photo ops with government officials et al. In the mix were Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange; Ambassador Audrey Marks; former Director of Tourism Carrole Guntley; Senator Delano Seiveright, state minister in the Ministry of Tourism; Executive Director of the Tourism Enhancement Fund Dr Carey Wallace; and Former Tourism Minister Wykeham McNeill.

Near to the end of his presentation, White held the audience in somewhat of a suspense, for there was a big announcement, it seemed, to be made.

“The marketer in me wants to get excited, the businessman in me wants to stay calm, the father in me wants to be receptive of his children … but, tonight we have finalised … oh, let me ask my minister of tourism to join me so that together I can tell you what we are up to,” White told his rapt audience. Minister Bartlett then joined him.

White continued, “We have been building fully integrated campaigns to tell our Jamaican story. Today, unlike eight years ago, the Jamaica Tourist Board and its methodologies of marketing is fully technology-integrated. And so, whatever we do, if we cannot integrate, we cannot do. So, as we traverse that space, one of the critical components of integrated digital marketing is content, loads of it, tons of it, truckloads of it. And we wanted to round off ‘25 properly in a way (that) only one Jamaican can do. That’s the way we want it done. And so I would like to invite onstage with myself and Minister Bartlett, the Honourable Usain Bolt.”

Usain St Leo Bolt did not dash on to the stage as he does over the rocks at Dunn’s River Falls in the aforementioned advertisement, but his presence was nonetheless met with great applause. And then, White shattered the suspense by announcing that, the eight-time Olympic gold-medallist is the new ‘JTB Global Ambassador’.

“He will feature ... almost, almost exclusively in our next fully integrated global campaign set to begin in August of this year,” White continued. They were then joined onstage by Minister Grange.

In his brief response Bolt told the gathering, among other things, “For me, it is always an honour ... to represent my country, and I’ve always tried … I must thank the Tourist Board, the minister, and everybody who was a part of this to make this happen, (laughing) I must say it’s about time.”

It is a powerful combination of the “best tourism bureau” in the world with the fastest man in the world on record, for at least three years, and a fitting partnership for the JTB in this its platinum year.