WESTERN BUREAU:

Chris Dehring, the man who headed Cricket World Cup 2007, says the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) is not capitalising on the potential of event tourism, such as the lucrative Test that takes place at Sabina Park starting on Wednesday.

His comments comes weeks after the JTB paid $40 million to sponsor the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival and millions more on creating a village for the event, while reportedly paying little attention to the England versus West Indies match to be televised live to more than 100 million homes worldwide.

"What a great opportunity to start a sports tourism product aimed at the cricket fans in that market," Dehring stated in a letter to The Gleaner published yesterday.

No conceptual difficulty

He added that while he has no conceptual difficulty with the JTB sponsoring the jazz festival, it would have been wise for the board to endorse the international Test match in Kingston.

"There was no live international TV coverage of the jazz festival," Dehring said. "The audience at the venue in Montego Bay was therefore the entire audience, unlike a Test match at Sabina Park."

According to Dehring, international media presence at the jazz festival appeared to be minimal.

Responding to Dehring, deputy director of tourism, Zachary Harding, restated that 26,000 people arrived at the Sangster International Airport during the one-week period of the jazz festival.

He also said the JTB was embarking on developing the first comprehensive sports tourism and events marketing strategy.

Role established

Harding said, in terms of the development of a policy position, the JTB has established a role at the deputy director level to help frame the strategy.

Additionally, two board members have been appointed events subcommittee chairpersons.

Harding said as of next week, two overseas consultants - one, who was responsible for developing the winning bid document for the London Olympics, Mike Lee - will assist the JTB free of charge.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com