Exclusive - Jamaica Looks to Change Long-Time Ad Campaign

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- “Once you go, you know” could be ancient history very soon.

Travel Agent recently spoke to several members of the Jamaica Tourist Board who told us that the popular tag line, promoting the wonders and adventures of Jamaica, could be changed soon.

The “Once you go, you know” campaign has been in existence for roughly 10 years, says Minister of Tourism and Entertainment Dr. Kenneth Wykeham McNeill.

"The current campaign has been a very successful campaign, but we are making a determination to redoing the advertising campaign,” he says. “We need to look at all the things that Jamaica has to offer and a market that is constantly changing. And, at the same time, we are looking at the new media, possibly making changes to the website and further getting involved with Facebook, Twitter and other social media."

Instead of targeting first-time visitors to Jamaica, as the current campaign does, the new campaign will instead have a heavy focus on attracting repeat visitors.

"Jamaica has a huge repeat business and that’s because of the product that we have,” Director of Tourism John Lynch says, noting that Jamaica has more licensed attractions than the rest of the Caribbean as a whole.

Although he wouldn’t give the full details, Lynch hinted that the new campaign would center around a Jamaican icon like Bob Marley and would have a “One Love” theme. Lynch says the subsequent tagline would be something along the lines of, “Now that you have gone.”

Visit www.visitjamaica.com.