Jamaica wants a new global image

The governing Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) thinks that the time has come for the world to discard old mental images and stereotypes and look to the island with new respect, taking cognizance of its many developments over the decades.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, trailing his main opposition in the polls ahead of general elections next year, wants the world to have a new regard for the island of about three million. So, the cabinet is hiring an international branding firm to complete the exercise on its behalf. The exercise will commence shortly. The World Bank is helping with finance.

“There are some things that have crept into the meaning of the brand, which we really need to find a way to get out of the consciousness of people when they hear about Jamaica. Crime and violence is obviously one of them,” he said, acknowledging an average of about 1,300 murders annually and fears of gun violence in general.

“Jamaica is known for some other Ss other than sun, sea, and sand as well. We want Jamaica to be known for safety and security. We want Jamaica to be known for sustainability and seamlessness. We want Jamaica to be known for service and satisfaction, and we always want Jamaica to be sexy,” he said at a tourism sector event in the past week.

The cabinet has set its eyes on the country’s well-known creative industry, which superstars like Bob Marley have helped to promote globally for the past 50 years.

Holness said the island needs to do more to capitalize on this sector, noting that “we haven’t really managed to monetize it, and we need to be able to properly identify and define it. We are going through this process of rectifying, restructuring, redefining who we are as Jamaicans and what it means to be Jamaican. The government realizes that we have to be very clear about the message surrounding Jamaica. So we have hired an international consulting firm to help us with our nation branding because we recognize that what is being said about Jamaica and what is known about Jamaica may be dated, and may not always be accurate. So, I want to point this out to you today that Jamaica is being very proactive and very strategic and instrumental in ensuring that the brand Jamaica remains a powerful and strong brand in the market because, after all, that is what brings the visitors here and that’s the foundation of our tourism product,” he said.

It is not clear if the PM, whose governing Labor Party (JLP) is also worried about the island’s decades of association with marijuana cultivation and its image as one the weed-smoking capitals of the word, as he boasted that “Jamaica has always been a global beacon of cultural influence and natural beauty, yet the breadth of our brand potential remains underutilized. Through this initiative, we aim to develop a cohesive national brand that reflects our strengths and achievements and which will allow us to unlock new opportunities for growth and development.”

The move to try to sell a new Jamaican brand to the world comes as the island is set to play host to a record number of visitors this year, also bringing in in excess of $5 billion in revenues.

Minister of Tourism Ed Bartlett said 2024 will likely close with about 4.5 million tourists. He said that number “would be the highest in our history” as well as the revenue the country will earn from the lifeline sector.

“Since COVID, the recovery has been so strong, but not complete until this year, 2024, when the world will see 1.5 billion visitors traversing the world and earned (spend) US$4 trillion. In 2019, 1.4 billion people travelled across the earth for touristic purposes, and spent US$3 trillion; and then COVID came and all of that was eviscerated, and we went to zero, zero, zero everywhere, almost. And Jamaica, because of you, the tourists and visitors, will make new records too, small increments, but it is important over last year,’ he said.

Staying on message, PM Holness noted that time has taken its toll on the Jamaican brand that most people know. It is time for a change as images and stereotypes about negative things he did not name have “started to mean things that could be detrimental to us. So, we have actually hired an international firm that does branding. We say we have this large creative industry, but we haven’t really managed to monetize it, and we need to be able to properly identify and define it.

“We are going through this process of rectifying, restructuring, and redefining who we are as Jamaicans and what it means to be Jamaican. There are some things that have crept into the meaning of the brand which we really need to find a way to get out of the consciousness of people when they hear about Jamaica. Crime and violence is obviously one of them,” he said, in a country averaging about 1,300 murders per year.