Now, its JTB Jazz

The Jamaica Tourist Board have stepped in as latest underwriter of Turnkey Productions' annual Jazz festival in Mobay. see the following from Headline Entertainment

The Jamaica Tourist Board and Air Jamaica have once again partnered with Turnkey Productions to be major sponsors of the annual jazz and blues festival held each January in Montego Bay. A strategic decision was taken to rename the festival to give the Jamaica Brand prime positioning. To facilitate this move the JTB agreed to add their official JAMAICA branding to the name and logo, thus rebranding the festival as The JAMAICA Jazz and Blues Festival with Air Jamaica as the presenting sponsor. The 2009 event will take place from January 22-24. After meetings with both organizations, Walter Elmore, the President of Turn-Key Productions, was happy about the new branding for the Festival. "”We believe that the new name represents the Festival as a national event that attracts thousands of tourists and returning residents to the island. The JTB has agreed to add their official JAMAICA brand to the name, and Air Jamaica remains committed to the festival as presenting sponsor. We all believe that this strategic move at a time when the Jamaica Brand is at its highest popularity globally, can only serve to strengthen the overall appeal of the festival to visitors worldwide.”
Basil Smith, Director of Tourism was especially excited by the new branding. “The annual Festival has provided exceptional opportunities to attract visitors from all over the world to come to Jamaica that may not have otherwise come to our country. The fact that the Festival will now officially be the JAMAICA Jazz & Blues Festival, will help the JTB to strengthen the event marketing throughout the world and reaffirms our branding in that ‘Once you go, in this case to the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival’, you know.”

Air Jamaica, the country’s national carrier, was instrumental in launching the Festival and kept it going strong for over a dozen years. “The airline’s support of the Festival is unwavering” said William Rodgers, Air Jamaica’s Acting President and CEO. “Air Jamaica has long recognized the importance and impact that the Festival has on both tourists coming to Jamaica and with Jamaicans at home and abroad. The Festival also allows for the aggressive promotion of both the airline and the country as Jamaica becomes the center of the entertainment world during this period.

Popularly known just as "Jazz", the 2009 Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival has become the must see and must be at event on the entertainment calendar of the year; as many Jamaicans attend the Festival to share time with associates, family and friends from around the world.

As the plans for the Festival move into high gear, Turn-Key Productions continues to attract major sponsors for the Festival and has begun to build its star studded lineup for the 2009 Festival. “We have quite the legacy to live up to” said Walter Elmore. “In past years we have had such incredible performers like Alicia Keys, Kenny Rogers, George Benson, Shaggy , Monty Alexander, Morgan Heritage, among hundreds of other stars that have come to Jamaica to perform. And while, we cannot reveal our lineup just yet, I am positive that Jamaicans and music lovers from all over the world will be impressed and will do whatever it takes to find their way to Montego Bay at the end of January”.

The 2009 Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival presented by Air Jamaica will be staged at the historic Aqueduct in Montego Bay from Thursday, January 22 to Saturday, January 24. Tickets for the Festival go on sale later this year. For more information and all the updates please visit the festival online at www.jamaicajazzandblues.com