originally posted on South Florida
Caribbean News (www.SFLCN.COM)
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica - The Jamaica
Tourist Board (JTB) and Air Jamaica
have once again partnered with
Turnkey Productions to be major
sponsors of the annual jazz and
blues festival held each January in
Montego Bay. A strategic decision
was taken to rename the festival to
give the Jamaica Brand prime
positioning.
To facilitate this
move the JTB agreed to add their
official JAMAICA branding to the
name and logo, thus rebranding the
festival as The JAMAICA Jazz and
Blues Festival with Air Jamaica as
the presenting sponsor. The
2009 event will take place from
January 22-24.
After meetings with
both organizations, Walter Elmore,
the President of Turn-Key
Productions, was happy about the new
branding for the Festival. ”We
believe that the new name represents
the Festival as a national event
that attracts thousands of tourists
and returning residents to the
island. The JTB has agreed to add
their official JAMAICA brand to the
name, and Air Jamaica remains
committed to the festival as
presenting sponsor. We all believe
that this strategic move at a time
when the Jamaica Brand is at its
highest popularity globally, can
only serve to strengthen the overall
appeal of the festival to visitors
worldwide.”
Basil Smith,
Director of Tourism was especially
excited by the new branding. “The
annual Festival has provided
exceptional opportunities to attract
visitors from all over the world to
come to Jamaica that may not have
otherwise come to our country. The
fact that the Festival will now
officially be the JAMAICA Jazz &
Blues Festival, will help the JTB to
strengthen the event marketing
throughout the world and reaffirms
our branding in that ‘Once you go,
in this case to the Jamaica Jazz &
Blues Festival’, you know.”
Air Jamaica, the
country’s national carrier, was
instrumental in launching the
Festival and kept it going strong
for over a dozen years. “The
airline’s support of the Festival is
unwavering” said William Rodgers,
Air Jamaica’s Acting President and
CEO. “Air Jamaica has long
recognized the importance and impact
that the Festival has on both
tourists coming to Jamaica and with
Jamaicans at home and abroad. The
Festival also allows for the
aggressive promotion of both the
airline and the country as Jamaica
becomes the center of the
entertainment world during this
period.
Popularly known just
as "Jazz", the 2009 Jamaica Jazz and
Blues Festival has become the must
see and must be at event on the
entertainment calendar of the year;
as many Jamaicans attend the
Festival to share time with
associates, family and friends from
around the world.
As the plans for the
Festival move into high gear,
Turn-Key Productions continues to
attract major sponsors for the
Festival and has begun to build its
star studded lineup for the 2009
Festival. “We have quite the legacy
to live up to” said Walter Elmore.
“In past years we have had such
incredible performers like Alicia
Keys, Kenny Rogers, George Benson,
Shaggy , Monty Alexander, Morgan
Heritage, among hundreds of other
stars that have come to Jamaica to
perform. And while, we cannot reveal
our lineup just yet, I am positive
that Jamaicans and music lovers from
all over the world will be impressed
and will do whatever it takes to
find their way to Montego Bay at the
end of January”.
The 2009 Jamaica
Jazz and Blues Festival presented by
Air Jamaica will be staged at the
historic Aqueduct in Montego Bay
from Thursday, January 22 to
Saturday, January 24. Tickets for
the Festival go on sale later this
year.
