If You Build It, We Will Come – ESPN Vice President Challenges Jamaica

Sports Tourism is a US$600 Billion industry and Bernard Stewart, vice-president of Caribbean and Maritime Media at international sports network ESPN believes Jamaica is well suited to gobble up a huge slice.

What a slice!!! Aww man!

Stewart was not speaking in the abstract either; he noted that big networks like ESPN actually pay very close attention to value of the industry in determining their programming direction.

In pressing the point  Stewart spoke of the centrality of sports and the vast potential it had enrich businesses at every level. He was speaking at the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s Investment and Capital Markets Conference at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel.

“We all know that sports has a major impact all across the world, and you need to look to use sport to improve local businesses,”

What is Sport tourism? 

“Sports tourism is basically looking at the traditional way of getting people to come to a country such as Jamaica as a visitor; the sun, the sea is a part of life here so it’s now about becoming very active, and the sports tourist has a significant tourism impact that allows for high spending, they stay longer and are very much more engaged,” Stewart noted.