HANOVER, Jamaica — After months in the making, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, on Friday, unveiled Jamaica’s first ever “Jam-Iconic Experience” sign, a $12-million welcome to Negril.

The sign is located on the Hanover side of the resort town, sections of which are also in Westmoreland.

The finished product, which includes lighting, landscaping, and palm trees, is expected to increase tourism within rural areas, add aesthetic appeal to destination areas and provide a photo experience for locals and visitors alike.

“I think it is value for money,” Bartlett told OBSERVER ONLINE.

In November of 2018, eyebrows were raised when he announced that a $17-million iconic welcome sign would be constructed at the roundabout near Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.

However, following public and political pressure, the tourism ministry was forced to revise the cost to $14.7 million.

On Friday, Wade Mars, Executive Director of Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) — which spearheaded the project — explained the need for the sign in Negril.

“A good sign conveys information. It attracts attention and effectively communicates a message. With its surroundings, it will increase brand awareness. A good sign also plays a key role in the aesthetics of the space. And even though signs are often taken for granted, they’re still important for wayfinding, especially by people who are unfamiliar with the surroundings, and the area of identification,” Mars said.

Bartlett explained that while there are welcome signs erected at parish borders across the country, this is the first one to welcome visitors to a resort area.

“We have signage now in almost every parish border but the designation of resort areas now, this is the first one saying Negril. The next one will say Montego Bay or Falmouth as we get to the resort areas,” the minister told OBSERVER ONLINE.

He said the next sign will be constructed in Ocho Rios.

Bartlett said the signage project is part of a re-imagining programme which falls under the broader ambit of destination management for which, he emphasised, public order is important.

“The visitor harassment and touting and pimping are all part of the disorder that is in the system,” he said. “So we have been building out destination assurance which is going to require from us a series of legislative and regulatory arrangements that we are going to work with the Ministry of National Security, the Ministry of Education for public education so that people understand the value of all that and following rules,” he added.

The minister assured that the Negril sign will be maintained through the destination assurance manager.

Meanwhile, Mars said he is looking forward to how the public will react to the sign.

“I look forward to the feedback that we’re going to get. And remember, this is just a continuation of a drive that we’re going to be doing right across the island in different resort spaces. So, keep the feed-back coming in. Give us two suggestions as to how we can improve and welcome one and all,” he said.

Referencing the Government’s future development plans for the town, President of the Negril Chamber of Commerce Richard Wallace hailed the newly installed “sign in Negril as a sign of more things to come”.

– Anthony Lewis