In Time of Need Cancellation of 2016 Jazz Festival a Missed Opportunity for Pleasure and Business for Jamaica – Joe Issa As Jamaica continues to celebrate and monetise several achievements last year, businessman Joe Issa, who is famous for hosting of celebrities and luminaries from all corners of the globe, says cancellation of this year’s Jazz Festival is a huge opportunity missed to get much needed business for the country to help maintain the growth momentum. “The annual Jazz Festival has become a huge event on our calendar; it brings increased bookings for large and small hotels in particular, as well as private homes. The amount of money it brings to the island is enormous and puts us at the forefront of international entertainment destinations. “It is also a big opportunity for networking among local businesses and between local and international businesses, which often results in business deals involving expansion of plant and production and new foreign investments, both of which mean additional jobs in the economy at a time when youth unemployment, particularly female is so high,” says Issa. As executive chairman of the Cool Group of over 50 branded companies which are being leveraged internationally with the objective of making the brand global, Issa says the benefits of Jazz Festival to Jamaica do not stop with the injection of local and foreign investments into the economy. “There’s a lot of networking going on behind the curtains among local artists as well as between local and foreign artists that leads to improvements in the local entertainment industry, which is a huge contributor to the Jamaican economy. “You
have singers, dancers, musicians, producers, promoters, marketing agents, stage designers, and electrical, audio and video technicians positioning themselves to learn and earn more from both local and international engagements; and all that increased earnings benefit the country,” Issa says. Issa, who, in the past has lobbied for increased entertainment events for Ocho Rios, where his Cool Corporation is headquartered, has participated in the jazz festival by setting up Cool booths at the event, an envious opportunity which local companies use to entertain their major clients, executives and staff. It is at these booths that many of the business deals are made, he said.
The Jamaican Jazz & Blues festival (formally known as the ‘Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival’) started in 1995 to encourage more tourists to come to the island during the seasonal tourism slump. It has since grown from attracting 2,000 people, to well in excess of 35,000 today. Whilst technically still a Jazz festival, it caters to many different types of music genres including R&B, blues, Latin, Reggae, Soca, and various types of musical fusion, says the event’s official website. Photo Caption: Margaritaville owners Brian Jardim (left) and Ian Dear (2nd right) with senator Deika Morrison and Cool Oasis owner Joey Issa at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival Friday night. Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival – Joey Chats with Friends
Photo Caption: Businessman Peter Bovell (l), SuperClubs executive VP, Joey Issa (c) chat with Ian Dear at the Margueritavilla booth at James Bond Beach.