The Government is working to have the ‘90 days of Summer’ initiative in place by 2014.

The entertainment promotion seeks to attract visitors to the island during the months of May to August and maximise the economic potential of the country’s cultural product.

Speaking at a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank on Tuesday morning, August 27, at the agency’s Half-Way-Tree Road headquarters, State Minister in the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment, Hon. Damion Crawford, informed that a committee has been established and persons are being encouraged to make submissions regarding the initiative.

“We want persons to send in their proposals, have a committee look at them and then those proposals are taken based on a matrix, and a set of events are put together. The committee will look at those events, look at how they support each other, look at how they diversify the offerings and then make a decision,” Mr. Crawford said.

Mr. Crawford said the country’s culture should be used to attract persons especially in the summer months where visitor arrivals are low.

“So, we are seeking to define Jamaica as the place to be for the 90 days of summer from the 15 of May to the 15 of August. It is not expected for individuals to be here for the entire 90 days, but you should be able to choose weeks within those 90 days and be able to come for those weeks,” the State Minister said.

Expected outcomes of this initiative include : increased visitor arrivals in the off-peak period; increased tourist spending outside of properties given the multiplier nature of entertainment events; increased coherence in the marketing and promotion of entertainment events (including sports, culinary/gastronomy etc.); and increased economic activities from entertainment events for local entrepreneurs.