The Jamaica Tourist Board unveiled "Jamaica, Heartbeat of the World," its new brand positioning campaign and tagline "that reinforces our position as a global leader among travel destinations and establishes Jamaica as the single destination that every traveler must experience," according to Donovan White, the country's director of tourism.
Donovan White, Jamaica's director of tourism, announces the destination's new branding campaign.
The slogan represents "the beat that makes the world move," he said.
"On the map, Jamaica may seem like a small dot in the Caribbean Sea. But Jamaica's influence on the world culture is the size of a continent. We are a cultural giant, and we continue to have an indelible impact on the world's food, music, sport and literature while offering larger-than-life bucket list experiences with extraordinary, talented people."
Coinciding with the brand launch was White's announcement at the recent Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association's Marketplace conference that the country's preliminary air and cruise arrivals numbers for 2019 topped 4.3 million travelers (2.7 million air arrivals and 1.6 million cruise arrivals).
While the final tally is not yet in, the preliminary air arrivals numbers mirror Jamaica's forecast in mid-2019; the cruise figure is slightly lower than forecast, which White attributed to itinerary changes by the major cruise lines.
Visitor spending was estimated at $3.64 billion, a 10.2% jump over 2018 figures.
"We'll have a strong 2020," White said. "There's evidence of high global demand as determined by the increase in intended online travel searches in 2019 over 2018 and a healthy boost in bookings thus far this year."