OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) Director Cindy Lightbourne has offered advice to promoters hoping to get sponsorship for their events: Apply early.

“We run off a budget, and a budget has a cycle. This is not just for JTB, it is for every organisation — government or private. So it is important for you to know their budgetary cycles. Government budget cycles start April 1. Normally by September we would ask for a supplemental and that means we need some more cash and we begging for help. But we don’t know how much we will get, or if we do get it,” Lightbourne explained.

She stressed that more proactive individuals will stand a better chance of securing financial support.

“The early birds always catch the worms, so if the early birds put in their application forms and my cash is allocated to those early birds, around August things get very dry, and I can’t allocate money that is not in my bank account,” Lightbourne added.

She was among speakers at the Ocho Rios staging of The Event Playbook, a Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) series aimed at empowering dedicated event promoters with the tools and knowledge needed to strive in the entertainment industry.

Held at Couples Sans Souci in Ocho Rios, St Ann, the event was well received by promoters, who were actively engaged as insights were provided by experts in the entertainment field.

Brand experience manager at J Wray & Nephew Limited Simone Foster, and Guinness Brand Manager Nadine Hylton were among panellists. During their presentations they also advised promoters to submit proposals at least a year in advance of their event date to be considered for sponsorship.

“We plan about a year in advance, so our plan for 2025 would have been submitted and confirmed from December of 2024, which means that if you’re coming to us now for a summer event, it would be too late,” said Foster.

“Sponsorship is a partnership for us, we don’t do donations. So persons may think we’re just giving out money but, no, it’s more of an investment. We are investing in our visibility at the event, experiences that we can get for our brand, engagement, etc,” added Foster.

Hylton offered similar advice on the timing of sponsorship requests.

“If a promoter has a summer event coming up, I would have had to present that from last year, because it would be a kick-off for the new financial year. Different brands operate on different cycles, but for companies it is usually January to December. But for us, we already know which events we are sponsoring way ahead of time,” said Hylton.