Celebrating 50 years of marketing the island’s tourism this year, the Jamaica Tourist Board will debut as a sponsor of Central Park’s prestigious Taste of Summer on June 1, 2005. The event will showcase the country’s upscale side through décor, culinary offerings, and luxurious range of accommodations and activities. Featuring over 40 of New York’s finest restaurants, Taste of Summer will feature for the first time, the talents of two of Jamaica’s top chefs from two of the most notable hotels on island - Royal Plantation in Ocho Rios and Strawberry Hill, near Kingston.  Royal Plantation’s Executive Chef, Dennis McIntosh and Strawberry Hill’s Chef, Darren Lee will create Jamaican culinary delights for the sophisticated palettes of attendees from New York at the Taste of Summer event.  Guests will also be treated to Jamaica’s famous Blue Mountain coffee by Jablum.

New York food lovers will enjoy sumptuous cuisine and drinks, “live” music and a silent auction filled with getaways to some of Jamaica’s most luxurious upscale resorts:  Grand Lido Braco Resort & Spa, Half Moon, Jamaica Inn, Round Hill Hotel & Villas, Ritz - Carlton Golf & Spa Resort, Strawberry Hill and Royal Plantation. A Jamaica-inspired lounge and VIP area will feature the colors, flora and fauna of the island and add to the “summer cool” theme of the event.

“The Jamaica Tourist Board is pleased to work in conjunction with the Central Park Conservancy on this opportunity to showcase our luxury offerings to an upscale market and to attract new guests to our island. Sponsorship of the event provides the Jamaica Tourist Board with the rare opportunity to communicate directly with an affluent, sophisticated, jet-setting audience, a prime target of the JTB that is often hard to reach,” said Deputy Director of Tourism, David L. Shields.
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