A top tourism official in Jamaica says that island has no intention of using the tagline or to re-brand the destination as “The spice island of the Caribbean”.
The claim was made during heated social media discussions, as Grenadians locally and abroad expressed approval or disapproval to the Grenada Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Authority (GTA) about the rebranding of Grenada with a new message of “Pure Grenada.”
Janet Silvera, Senior Tourism Writer at the Jamaica Gleaner said she heard about the debate and began following it online. “I then decided to contact Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board, Dennis Morrison, who described the idea as rubbish, because there are so many other taglines that can be used to promote the diversity of our destination,” she said.
“Mr Morrison said there is no reason why Jamaica would change its tagline to Island of Spice, owing to the diversity that Jamaica has to offer. This is a line one of our neighbours has used over the years. We wouldn’t want to use the same thing,” Silvera said.
On 2 January, the GTA took over the promotions and marketing of the islands’ tourism product. The tourism ministry then announced that it would be re-branding the destination.
Tourism Minister Alexandra Otway-Noel said “We will always be the spice island, but that doesn’t make people want to come here. The new branding will instead emphasise the island’s unique features such as eco-tourism, yachting and world-class diving. Future development on the island will focus on “quality not quantity.”
Otway-Noel said the new entity was “more fresh, innovative and forward-thinking”, and that it was more able to manage itself and make decisions. She confirmed the GTA will move away from the “the Isle of Spice” slogan and instead adopt “Pure Grenada.”
By Linda Straker
