Paolo Kernahan

CLOSE TO 1,400 people were murdered in Jamaica in 2023. Yet the island attracted more than four million tourists in that same bloody year. According to the Jamaica Observer newspaper, the country welcomed 1.1 million visitors as of the second week of March this year. This isn't a column about crime, to be clear; it will only strafe the subject tangentially.

There's nothing Trinidad can learn from Jamaica about crime as our citizens appear, at least by all outward appearances, at peace with rampant criminality in this murdertopia. The robust tourism figures in Jamaica are attributed, in part, to a shift in marketing tactics. Specifically, there has been an aggressive push by the Jamaica Tourist Board towards digital marketing, dialling back somewhat on conventional tactics.

The JTB, it seems, understands how to use digital marketing to target specific market segments online. From my reading of it, Jamaicans are using more SEO (search engine optimisation) to boost the visibility of the destination, particularly with audiences on the digital prowl for their next holiday getaway/wedding destination/absconding from justice with company pension funds.

A strategic digital marketing ideology allows the island greater focus on finding its ideal clientele using the language of online discovery. Naturally, no one should take glowing accounts of any state agency without a grain of scepticism - but as their tourism statistics suggest, there's something in the way of proof in that pudding.

While not a comparison between Jamaica and TT as tourism destinations, some might argue brand Jamaica is infinitely more potent than brand 'Trini.' This is true. Many people in countries outside the region often assume if you're from the Caribbean then you must be Jamaican. What's also true is Jamaica's parallel identity as a dangerous place is equally well known.

Here's an excerpt from a US travel advisory issued this year by the US State Department: "Violent crimes such as home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults and homicides are common. Sexual assaults occur frequently, including at all-inclusive resorts. Local police often do not respond effectively to serious criminal incidents.'

As far as that damning resume goes, Jamaica and TT are practically twin flames. At any rate, these are the odds Jamaica must confront while trying to promote itself in a fiercely competitive market. So what are we doing to promote our slice of paradise?

Just a year ago chairman of Trinidad Tourism Ltd Clifford Hamilton, flanked by CEO Carla Cupid, told a parliamentary committee, 'We're hoping we can enter into some agreement with Google whereby, in terms of search engines, if we give them content that's positive, when you Google Trinidad what comes up first are those positive things we're saying about the country or other people are saying about the destination.'

Hamilton was speaking about efforts to counteract the (negative) international perception of TT.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a shocking insi