Fans try to get pictures of Bolt after he qualified for today's semi-finals. - Photo by Oliver Wright

BERLIN, Germany:

Jamaica is looking to cash in on the heightened interest in its star athletes competing at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics (WCA) here.

The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), in collaboration with Puma, which sponsors the team, and Tui, a tour company, has set up several events to promote the island. The aim is to sell Jamaica to the thousands of visitors to the WCA, which began yesterday and runs through to August 23.

"Puma is the sponsor of Jamaica's team, and we're joining Puma to expose Jamaica," said Pat Samuels, JTB's regional director for Europe.

Yesterday, Samuels and JTB staff set up a display booth on the walkway outside Alexanderplatz, a station just under a 30-minute train ride from the Olympic Stadium where the WCA is being staged. The booth, colourfully decorated with the Jamaican flag and JTB posters, also features products, such as Blue Mountain coffee, rum and condiments from the island. It is scheduled to stay open until August 23, when the WCA ends.

Puma booth

Jamaica's Michael Frater (right) runs against Italy's Smone Collio (centre) and Jack Iroga of the Solomon Islands, in the men's 100m first-round heat during the World Athletics Championships in Berlin yesterday. - Photo by Oliver Wright

Next to the JTB set-up is a Puma booth, set beneath huge photographs of Bolt in a Puma store window. The display also includes a running track, which allows visitors to compete against a cut-out of Jamaican star sprinter and world record holder Usain Bolt. Participants are allowed to 'race' against Bolt's cut-out and are timed on a huge display clock. The eventual winner of that promotion - the fastest runner - will be selected by Bolt at a party to be staged at Yaam, a cultural entertainment centre here. The prize is a trip from Germany to Jamaica.

But activities featuring Jamaica did not begin yesterday. On Thursday and Friday, Yaam was the site of a Jamaican cultural explosion, including food and music. It will also host several other activities this week, including a 'Jamaican Dancehall Night' on August 22, and the 'Finale Im Yaam' the following day.

According to one JTB official at the Alexanderplatz booth, about 1,500 Jamaicans live in Germany. But there could be more, as many have turned in their Jamaican passports and become German citizens. But they are not to be the only targets of the JTB's push, and the sponsors are eager to benefit.

"What we're doing is actually leveraging all our partnerships - Jamaica Tui and Puma," said Samuels. "People are excited about Jamaica."

Pat Samuels at the Jamaica booth in Berlin. - Contributed