In a bid to boost arrivals the Jamaica Tourist Board has entered an agreement with Independent Software Technology, USA, Inc., a New Jersey-based interactive marketing firm, to develop and implement a direct-marketing campaign.Within the time frame of the two-year endorsement, IST is expected to deliver over one million unique visits to the Web site www.visitjamaica.com, with the ultimate goal of generating actual visits to this leading Caribbean destination.

IST is pioneering a collaborative form of interactive direct marketing,
which aims to incorporate all the stakeholders in a tourist destination,
sports franchise, or entertainment entity. Through a combination of pocket-and regular-sized optical disks and direct distribution networks, the target audience is immersed within a multimedia experience that showcases the diverse attractions and culture of the island. IST’s value proposition to its’ featured partner offers a tailored marketing message directed at the partners’ specific audience. 

In addition to the featured entity, IST’s interactive direct-marketing
campaigns are designed to identify appropriate third-party marketing
partners and incorporate their marketing message on to the optical disc and Web pages that form the basis of the campaign.

David L. Shields, deputy director of tourism - marketing, for the JTB,
expressed enthusiasm. “We are very excited to be a part of this pioneering interactive approach to direct marketing,” Shields commented. “Jamaica is a multi-faceted destination with a big story to tell, and this campaign is designed to augment the flow of traffic to our Web site, where we can best convey the enormous diversity of the island’s attractions.”

IST president and CEO Sheldon Channer announced that a percentage of the revenues will be donated to an educational program in Jamaica.  “We are thrilled to provide Jamaica with this new and exciting form of direct marketing,” Channer commented, “and have made a decision to reinvest five percent of the gross revenues
received from the project towards education on the island.”

The strategy and content of the optical discs and Web pages will be directed by Ruder Finn Interactive, a division of Ruder Finn, Inc., which is the public relations firm representing the JTB in North and Latin America.

B. Bonin Bough, vice president for strategy at Ruder Finn Interactive, said: “We’re extremely pleased with the program brought forward by IST. It is well designed to meet the JTB’s needs, and we hope to see a significant conversion rate of virtual visits to actual tourist bookings for Jamaica.”
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