Alongside remittances, tourism was crucial to keeping the Jamaican economy afloat in those alarmingly tough times during and immediately after the global financial crisis of a few years back.

It remains absolutely key to economic stability.

Currently, Jamaica’s tourism draws down in excess of US$2 billion annually, and is continuing to grow with the annual number of visitors (stopover as well as cruise) exceeding 3.5 million.

The industry is a huge employer of labour. Tourism Minister Mr Edmund Bartlett recently said that the hotel sub-sector employs 89,000 people directly, while accounting for 250,000 in indirect employment. Presumably, indirect employment includes farmers who provide for the sector.

All of the above, and more, explain the considerable investment in promoting and marketing of Jamaica’s visitor industry.

For instance, at the recent Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Jamaican Government spent more than US$700,000 or just under J$100 million on the so-called Jamaica House project.

Essentially, the project entailed piggybacking or dovetailing the impressive and colourful performances of Jamaican athletes, shown across the globe on television, with the showcasing of Jamaican music, culture, cuisine, etc from a location close to the Olympic Stadium.

Reports suggest that the effort was very successful.

Note the glowing depiction by tourism executive, Mr Jason Hall: “Rio was epic, both on and off the track. You might say epic became the norm with (Usain) Bolt (and other athletes) delivering so superlatively and the performance of Jamaica House. We (Jamaica House initiative) were sold out every single night; we didn’t have tickets to give away (or) tickets to sell. It (Jamaica House) was a tool that we used to effectively sell Jamaica, leveraging the performance of our athletes and the media attention that they attract, showcasing our culture, our food and our music — these were delivered in superlative fashion. It was amazing.”

Much the same thing was done at the London Olympics four years earlier. Quite apart from tangible spin-offs in terms of immediate tourism and other business, such promotions strengthen longer-term ‘feel good’ emotions about Jamaica in the global marketplace.

Promotions linked to Jamaican sporting achievements are not new. We well remember the huge effort and monetary spend in seeking promotional spin-offs from Jamaica’s qualification to the FIFA World Cup in France in 1998.

There will be those who question the benefits of such expenditure. And, indeed, there is no easy way to measure with precision the impact of promotion and marketing.

Yet, once we accept that product promotion and marketing boost industry growth, projects such as Jamaica House in Rio make plenty of sense. At bottom line, though, planners and organisers must ensure that I’s are dotted T’s crossed and achievable targets set.

We note the cautionary note by Mr Bartlett that direct benefits, ie tourism flows, from the promotion in Rio won’t be seen immediately.

However, the expectation must be that it will have added considerably to the overall tapestry and attractiveness of Jamaica’s tourism product.