By Paul Thompson.
By now you have all seen Usain Bolt's celebratory dance after he copped the big one in Beijing. It is now quite clear that the secret to Jamaica's economic success lies outside of the all-inclusive properties and inside of the communities where we live, work, and play. It was fascinating to see the interest of the International Media in Jamaica, some reporters even going as far as requesting hotel rooms for Boys and Girls Champs next year.
With Usain Bolt now the most popular athlete in the world, it is not inconceivable to think of Jamaica as primarily an Events Destination. And when I speak of events, I mean everything ranging from Bembe, to Champs to the Curry Festival in Westmoreland. We need a comprehensive re-think of how we position Jamaica as a destination and we have to put the Jamaican people at the centre of everything.
In fact, the idea has been banded about for a while, and the powers that be would have us believe that they have been doing a tremendous amount of strategic thinking and action in this direction. The truth however, is that Usain Bolt did more to promote Jamaica in 9.69 seconds than JTI and JTB have done in the last 5 years. You saw not only a superior sportsman on display, you saw Jamaican culture being represented in its truest form.
Those idiots who thought Bolt's "nuh linga" was over the top still fail to recognize that these monstrosities being built on the North Coast will not be filled by the traditional North Amercian demographic, but will increasingly be occupied by persons from as far away as China and Japan who have fallen in love with our culture and our people.
What needs to happen at this point is for us to find synergies that can work for the benefit of all. People will pay to come here to see Bolt and Shelly-Ann and the hundreds of others perform, they want to experience a Premiere League match, a Champs, a Golf tournament, Drag Racing in Clarendon (or on Hope Road) , Push Cart Derby and the hundreds of corner leagues that abound in Jamaica. These are real opportunities. People are willing to come to Jamaica for an experience that goes beyond the beach and into the community. Combine these sporting events with our vibrant nightlife and culture, and Jamaica will truly become this place where everyone wants to visit.
Instead of running that same n old 'One Love Commercial' telling people 'yeah mon" and 'irie mon' and all that bullshit, we need to seriously invest in our sports and culture and strategically use those people as brand ambassadors for Jamaica. Then we can finally get rid of that damn fake Ras trying to sing over Bob Marley's tune. Wake up Jamaica! we don't need oil to be rich, we have a unique people and culture and we are adored and revered in every corner of the world. You can use the Internet to promote your communities and your events as tourist attractions. Use up the Youtube and the Facebook and the Blogs and all these things and tell the world that Jamaica is more than a beach, we're a country.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Golden Nation- Jamaica to the World!!!
Already a haul of five(5) medals , Jamaica is on its way to achieving its best medal haul in Olympic history. Leading the way is the Gold medal success of both Usain 'lightening 'Bolt and Shelly-Ann 'Smiley' Fraser. In what has been dubbed the "Awesome Threesome", the clean sweep success of the women in the 100m women is one of the most historic and proudest moments already recorded by Jamaica so far. With all the rave however, we cannot forget that we have again been heartbroken. The disappointing performances of Dorian Scott and Asafa Powell cannot be ignored. So heartbreaking has been Asafa's performance, Jamaican's have been busy celebrating the 6th place finish of Michael Frater who ran a personal Best while going below ten(10) seconds for the first time in his career. Once again people have concluded that as opposed to national pride, Asafa has failed us once by denying us the right as Jamaican to celebrate our greatness as a nation. His psychological strength or lack there-of has caused many including myself to question whether or not this guy is truly one of us(Jamaicans), ha ha ha. Ok. Asafa u WIN!!, we will put some money at the end of the next major championship so u can show us some heart. As for Scott, its not that bad a disappointment, but many including myself were expecting more after his noteworthy performances this season on the circuit. But with all the effort of Powell, it will do little to dent our feelings of elation after the way Shericka Williams came from deep to crush Sanya Richards to Third place in the women's 400m and the way the Awesome Threesome created history in putting Jamaica in the history books as the first nation to win the 100m in both male and female sections and looking to sweep the sprint double, big up ' Jam Dung'
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