The Jamaica Tourist Board unveiled its new VisitJamaica.com website that opens with an upbeat-tempo version of "One Love," the island's theme song.
New features include a Travelocity-powered booking engine, GPS tracking of favorite spots and use of Google Maps. Site visitors can contact travel agent specialists by plugging in their zip code location.
Browsers are invited to use a "slider" function on the home page that guides them through Jamaica's "ritzy" to "roadside" offerings (think luxury spa treatments to jerk chicken at a market stall).
Moving images and videos can be saved at a personalized trip-planning page called My Jamaica.
Visitor statistics, events and news items supplement the destination's information on attractions, activities and accommodations.
Edmund Bartlett, minister of tourism, described the revamped site as "the most significant addition yet to our marketing arsenal and one that creates a level playing field for all stakeholders in the industry."
A key feature of the site is that "tourists can experience Jamaica's attractions before they go," Bartlett said. "It puts a new spin on our destination slogan of 'Once you go, you know'. The website changes that slogan to 'Once you know, you will go.' "