Performance of Athletes has Renewed Interest in Country – Grange

Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange, has said that the performance of the athletes in the summer Olympics has renewed international interest in the island.

“Jamaica is now centre stage in a number of areas including our tourism, our culture and also in our agricultural products, as foreigners try to discover the source of our success in Beijing, China”, she said.

The Minister was speaking at the Jamaica Customer Service Association’s sixth annual conference on November 11, at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, under the theme: ‘Celebrating Gold! Ignite a National Spirit of Service’.

According to Miss Grange, the athletes’ performance was timely, in terms of opening windows of opportunity for the country. “It is timely because as you know, the world is going through a severe economic crisis and when the economy suffers, social problems tend to be highlighted even more so,” she stated.

She noted that the type of exposure that the country is receiving is not one which can be bought cheaply, adding that, “it is much more than we could afford to pay an advertising or promotional agency to do for us.”

Noting the theme of the conference, Minister Grange lauded the vision of the Jamaica Customer Service Association, in identifying the link between the athletes’ performance in Beijing, “and the possibility of presenting the best of Jamaica to the world, not only by our sporting prowess but also through excellent customer service.”

In the meantime, Minister Grange said that customer service will be a critical element of the National Development Plan ‘Vision 2030’, which is expected to put the country on a path to achieve developed country status by the year 2030 and is based on a comprehensive vision of Jamaica as the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business.

She added that the guiding principles of the vision will put people at the centre of the transformation process.

“The guiding principles prioritise the elements, which are critical for enhancing the quality of life for all Jamaicans and for the country’s achievement of world class standards in specific or predetermined areas,” she stated.