JTB to Revamp Marketing Strategies

The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) is to revamp its marketing strategies, to ensure that Jamaica achieves its growth targets in the tourism sector.

Making his contribution to the 2016/17 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on June 14,  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, informed that the JTB will be reformulating its approach to capitalise on the new opportunities presented by the changing global environment, such as the prevalence of social media and online platforms.

“The JTB will be leveraging social media more effectively in marketing the destination, while utilising mega-data and analytics to drive our marketing decisions,” Mr. Bartlett said.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Minister said cruise marketing has now been added to the portfolio of the Ministry as part of a strategic move to further boost cruise arrivals.

He noted that the JTB will be undertaking an aggressive cruise marketing initiative, which will entail intensified efforts to market the destination directly to cruise customers and marketing agents as well as promoting local attractions.

“Additionally, I am pleased to announce that TUI AG has a new cruise ship that will be home-porting in Montego Bay, hopefully to arrive in December this year. This brings to four the number of vessels which will be home-porting in Jamaica,” Mr. Bartlett pointed out.

He added that TUI UK has informed that an estimated 28 per cent of their cruise passengers who came on the Thomson Dream, which home-ported in Montego Bay, stayed over for a land vacation.