Ian Fleming International Airport at Boscobel in St Mary is being touted as having the right tools to be a powerful marketing asset for Jamaica.

Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett made the assessment while speaking with reporters at a recent function at Moon Palace Hotel in Ocho Rios, St Ann.

He said that even though the airport is named after a non-Jamaican — late British author Ian Fleming best known for his James Bond series of spy novels — the massive international name recognition and appeal, especially “when we factor in” the worldwide success of the James Bond movie franchise, justifies the move in namin the airport in Flemin’s honour.

“The renaming and upgrading of what was once the Boscobel Aerodrome to the Ian Fleming International Airport, named after the iconic writer and creator of the successful James Bond movies, can be a huge pull factor for Jamaica,” Bartlett said.

“Mr Fleming, who wrote the James Bond novels from his villa in nearby Oracabessa and lived in Jamaica for a significant portion of his life, has strong ties to the area, making the change from Boscobel to Ian Fleming a fitting tribute,” he added.

Bartlett further pointed out that the strategic targeting of the higher end of the leisure market is a critical element of the development and expansion of the tourism industry going forward.

Fleming fell in love with Jamaica on his first visit in 1943. At that time the island was the playground of the rich and famous. Katherine Hepburn, Noel Coward, Errol Flynn and others were regular visitors to the island. Coward was best man at Feming’s marriage to Anne Fleming at the town hall in Port Maria, St Mary.

For nearly 20 years Fleming retreated to the island where he wrote the 12 Bond novels and short stories. He died in England on August 12, 1964 and was buried in Kent.