New push for sports tourism growth
KAMAL BANKAY, chairman of the Sports and Entertainment network, has revealed that his focus will be on positioning Jamaica as the epicentre of culture from a sports and entertainment standpoint, while ensuring that the country will begin to earn from its “amazing sporting potential” over the medium term.
He underlined that the former Jamaica Sport, a brand out of the Jamaica Tourist Board, is no longer a separate entity.
Instead, sports and entertainment are under one committee, which will work closely alongside interests such as the Ministry of Sport, Culture, Gender and Entertainment and the tourism ministry.
According to Bankay, the Sports and Entertainment network is in the building stage, with about six months of operation.
“Anything that is sports tourism is an entertainment product as well as we hope to tap into both aspects,” he said, noting that monthly meetings on various sports and entertainment projects had been taking place.
SPORTS CELEBRATION
One of those major projects, according to the chairman, is a year-long programme of sports festivals to celebrate Jamaica’s 55th year of Independence this year.
“We have been presented with a programme of sports festivals for Jamaica 55, which includes major sporting events which are going to be huge tourism drivers,” Bankay told The Gleaner in an interview yesterday.
“We are trying to enhance traditional sports and use the big ones to turn into tourist events, targeting ones such as the Jamaica International Invitational meet and the Racers Grand Prix,” he continued.
He said that a lot more marketing and package creations would be done around those events to encourage more tourist arrivals.
Other members on the Sports and Entertainment network are Lenny Salmon, a special adviser to Sports Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange; Florette Blackwood, director of sport; and Mike Fennell, president of the Jamaica Olympic Association.
Bankay added that members of the team would be attending sports conferences in the coming12-16 months to conduct economic studies to get the full potential earnings to be derived from sports tourism and entertainment.
“We also want to look at viewership opportunities from sports like surfing, mountain climbing, and hiking,” Bankay added.