Yaad Luv: A Campaign By Jamaicans, For Jamaicans

Entered by Jamaica Social Investment FundJamaica’s tourism industry is iconic, but local community-based tourism (CBT) has lagged. Jamaicans tend to visit beach resorts or travel abroad for holiday - the challenge at hand was to change that. Enterprises outside Kingston in particular offer rich cultural and nature-based experiences but lack visibility, digital presence, and market access.The goals were to spread awareness of CBT and inspire Jamaicans to travel domestically, and to help “hidden gem” experiences get connected and onto domestic travellers’ radar. For this, a communications strategy was developed that centres authenticity, warmth, and pride. Multichannel, elevated authentic stories directed demand to CBT enterprises (CBTEs), and the wider industry was invited to co-create itineraries and cross-promotions in partnership with community operators, so more Jamaicans benefit when Jamaica wins. Messaging was needed that didn’t just advertise places, but activated people and partnerships, shifted perceptions, seeded new ventures, and forged links between CBTEs and the mainstream.A multi-agency steering committee worked closely together to develop messaging in Jamaican patois. In patois, ‘Yaad’ means ‘home’ and ‘luv’ means ‘love,’ making the campaign title ‘YaadLuv: True Jamaican Experiences’ a hyper-specific invitation and call-to-action. This language choice anchors the campaign in every day, authentic Jamaica. The StrategyThe team defined the primary audience as Jamaicans, focusing on culture-seeking 18–34s, families, and 55+ explorers. The goal was not only to spread awareness and convert bookings for experiences, but to encourage locals to get involved in, or even create, their own community-based tourism enterprises, and for established businesses to partner with community-based tourism enterprises.In short, the campaign aimed to build a strong foundation for this emerging style of tourism in Jamaica. Creatively, the team built “Yaad Luv: True Jamaican Experiences” as a culturally resonant platform that speaks in the language of “yaad,” pairs reggae-forward audio with human stories, and spotlights real community hosts. They produced a hero film, short-form videos, carousels, and enterprise spotlights, each piece directing to a simple landing page with a searchable directory and direct outbound links to CBTEs. Copy centred around pride, proximity, and purpose: explore your home, support local livelihoods, and discover authentic Jamaica.In parallel, they upskilled these enterprises to amplify the message from within: hands-on marketing workshops, monthly office-hours coaching, social media content development, and website creation/optimisation tracks gave enterprises the skills and assets to market themselves. The channel mix was digital-first for efficient reach and measurability (Meta and YouTube), with always-on optimisation, A/B testing of hooks/thumbnails, and sequential storytelling to move audiences from inspiration to action. Traditional media reinforced mass salience and trust: national radio, print/digital insertions in the national publication ‘The Gleaner’, and a Kingston bus wrap with a QR code to the landing page directory.KPIs spanned reach, engagement, and conversion, with the following targets proposed: ≥8M impressions; ≥50K landing-page clicks with rising CTR; and growth in leads (click-outs to CBTE pages). Additionally, some capacity-building KPIs were outlined: ≥50 enterprises trained in marketing, 10 new enterprise websites developed, and content (edited, ready-to-use photos and videos) developed for 40 enterprises. The Implementation Preparation began in September 2024 with brand co-creation workshops to lock the Yaad Luv name, voice, and creative guardrails. Between October–January, three production missions filmed across 40 communities, capturing interviews and B-roll in challenging rural terrain and variable weather. The team edited a library of more than 80 short form videos and 200 images, formatted for social and pre-roll, and built a lightweight landing page with a searchable directory and outbound links to over 100 enterprises. With assets ready, the campaign launched in February 2025 on Meta and YouTube, using sequential storytelling to move audiences from inspiration to action.Creative was refreshed in April and again in June (new video cuts, carousel variants, thumb-stoppers) based on performance learnings. In July, the team extended beyond digital with a Kingston bus wrap featuring a QR link to the directory, national radio spots, and The Gleaner print/digital placements to deepen local salience through Emancipation Day/Independence Day/Summer.A multi-agency steering committee - Jamaica Social Investment Fund, Ministry of Tourism, Jamaica Tourist Board, Tourism Product Development Company, and Trove Tourism Development Advisors - met bi-weekly to coordinate media, creative approvals, and timing. The team instrumented GA4, platform pixels, and UTM tags on every enterprise link, monitored a live dashboard daily, and ran ongoing A/B tests on hooks, captions, and thumbnails.Community feedback was tracked comment-by-comment; across roughly 160 logged comments, sentiment held strongly positive, reducing the need for issue escalation and allowing the team to focus on optimisation. To convert demand into real outcomes, communications execution ran in parallel with practical enablement: enterprises received ready-to-post kits; new websites; and a series of hands-on digital marketing trainings reinforced how to use the YaadLuv platform and manage leads.The ResultsThe Yaad Luv communications strategy delivered outstanding outcomes, far surpassing its original goals. The digital campaign amassed approximately 12 million impressions and over 510,000 clicks, more than 6 times the targeted click volume. This high engagement drove significant traffic to the campaign landing page and onward to local businesses: 10,337 qualified leads (click-throughs to community enterprise pages) were generated, translating into an estimated 517 potential bookings for community-based tourism enterprises. With a lean budget, the campaign achieved a remarkably low cost-per-lead, demonstrating strong return on investment for Jamaica’s tourism economy. Crucially, the campaign succeeded in putting Jamaica’s community-based experiences on the map and firing up public enthusiasm. Click-through rates climbed steadily (from 3.2% in February to 4.4% by June), and sentiment analysis showed roughly 94% positive reactions, with many Jamaicans expressing pride and “yaad luv” for their culture.The initiative fully met its awareness and referral objectives, while also nurturing a new excitement for domestic travel. Building on this momentum, project stakeholders plan to sustain and amplify the impact, keeping the YaadLuv platform live for ongoing use, and exploring an international rollout to share Jamaica’s authentic story with the world.

Yaad Luv: A Campaign By Jamaicans, For Jamaicans

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