A COMMUNICATOR PAR EXCELLENCE
A communicator par excellence, Adrian Robinson was appointed Director of Tourism from 1975 to 1978. He brought to the office creativity, keen sensitivity and a profound understanding of tourism, and of Jamaica as a product to be marketed in its entirety not only overseas but to Jamaicans at home.
During his three year term as Director, Adrian Robinson demonstrated a clear understanding of Jamaica as a composite product with diverse attractions. He piloted the industry through a period of transition from the traditional sun, sea and sand concept, projecting the island as a multi-faceted jewel in the Caribbean.
Challenged by adverse publicity overseas and a downturn in visitor arrivals to the island, he was responsible not only to reverse these trends, but to project Jamaica as an attractive destination with proud and hospitable people.
Adrian Robinson will long be remembered for the repeat visitor campaigns, based on the philosophy that visitor satisfaction would generate increased visits. The innovative, “Take Me Back to Jamaica”, ???Come Back to Jamaica”, ???Frequent Traveller??? and “Friend of Jamaica” campaigns, set new standards for tourism marketing both in Jamaica and the region. He also sought to build on the JTB tradition of providing satisfactory vacations for our visitors through the “Discover Jamaica Programme.” The ???Jippa Jappa Festival???, which was introduced in 1977 to showcase the best of Jamaican culture to our visitors, also enhanced this effort.
His belief that emphasis should be placed on building future clientele for Jamaica, led his administration to target college students who were encouraged to visit the country for study or recreation. He also focused on attracting famous people to the island to enhance Jamaica’s image as a desirable and attractive destination, and laid the foundation for Jamaica to gain international acceptance as an ideal sports location.
Under Adrian Robinson’s leadership, Jamaicans were urged to be tourists in their own country and hoteliers were encouraged to create special packages to accommodate them. He recognised the need for Jamaica to increase its capacity for transporting visitors to the island, and played an important role in the arrival of American Airlines to Jamaica.
Adrian Robinson’s outstanding performance was rewarded by the positive upturn in arrivals for Jamaica in the Winter of 1977 and this trend continued to the and of his term of office in 1978.
The Jamaica Tourist Board salutes Adrian Robinson, whose memorable
message, “We’re more than a Beach. We’re a Country,” continues to define the marketing thrust for tourism in Jamaica.
