Jamaica Rum Festival bridging tourism links
Published:Friday | March 26, 2021 | 12:22 AMJanet Silvera - Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Like a bridge connecting the tourism industry to other vital sectors of the economy, this weekend’s Jamaica Rum Festival (JRF) is being hailed as an important vehicle in the Tourism Linkages Programme.
Underscoring the annual event’s role in positioning Jamaica as a go-to destination, executive director of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), Dr Carey Wallace, said that the festival plays an important role in the socio-economic life of communities.
“Our Tourism Linkages Programme is really geared towards taking all these outstanding brands and products that exist in Jamaica and building them out to ensure their integration with the tourism market,” he told The Gleaner.
“Before COVID-19, we were approaching five million visitors per year travelling to Jamaica, and that represents a significant market that can consume quite a lot of products.”
Wallace emphasised that the linkages network is mandated to build out the capacity of various industries and create a bridge between local suppliers of goods and services and the tourism sector.
The TEF executive director said, too, that JRF helps to ensure that the tourism dollar is spent throughout the supply chain across Jamaica.
He describes the festival is an iconic event on the country’s social calendar that leverages rum, coffee and other iconic products to complement the island staple of sun, sea, and sand..
For the third consecutive year, the TEF is a sponsoring partner. The third edition of the March 27 showcase will be hosted virtually via the festival’s website http://www.jarumfestival.com.
He described the virtual staging as a masterstroke that will help to burnish the festival’s image during the pandemic..
“What is paramount is keeping it on the calendar and making sure that it is a staple on Jamaica’s schedule of events, so that next year and for years after, when the pandemic is behind us and we are again able to party, Jamaica Rum Festival will be more established and more entrenched in people’s minds,” Wallace said.
In the lead-up to JRF going live, in-person VIP seminars will be held, led by Appleton Estate Jamaica’s world-renowned Master Blender, Dr Joy Spence, with COVID-19 safety protocols strictly enforced. Other live interactive seminars will be conducted online on festival day.
A musical extravaganza, in keeping with the tradition of providing family entertainment, will this year take the form of an eight-hour virtual show with the best of Jamaica’s reggae and dancehall acts headlined by superstar Shaggy.