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ST GEORGE’S, Grenada -- To showcase the gracious and humble spirit of the Grenadian people as demonstrated to a global audience by Kirani James during the recently concluded 2012 London Olympic Games, the Grenada Board of Tourism has launched a targeted campaign designed to reinforce this key brand message as a point of differentiation for potential visitors.

"Since Kirani James' Gold Medal Olympic win and his highly publicized gesture of goodwill toward fellow competitor Oscar Pistorius have elicited such an emotional response from people around the world, we have initiated a campaign to capitalize on the awareness built for Grenada as a result,” stated Dr George Vincent, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture. “When he asked to exchange bibs, his magnanimous and unpretentious spirit became reflective not just of his own personality, but that of all Grenadians as genuine, warm and friendly, thereby increasing the appeal of the island as a desirable vacation choice."

While the Caribbean region as a whole is known to have some of the world’s most friendly, welcoming people, Kirani James established that this is particularly true of the people of Grenada. To leverage the heightened awareness for this unique selling point generated by his remarkable Olympic conduct, the Grenada Board of Tourism has developed a short-term, web-based campaign aimed at turning heightened name recognition into incremental visitors.

Entitled, “Celebration of Kirani: Celebration of Grenada,” the campaign incorporates a specially designed logo featuring Kirani James carrying Grenada’s national flag with the tagline, “Grenada: Gracious Every Day,” which is currently being rolled out in an integrated approach on Grenada Tourism’s website, digital advertisements and social media pages. Among the elements included in the campaign are: a “Quote of the Day” initiative utilizing quotes about Kirani from traditional and social media; an island tour of Kirani’s Top 10 things to do and see on Grenada; weekly press releases; social media posts; and a video program featuring footage of Kirani’s September 1-3 homecoming.

Further supporting the rationale behind the campaign, Kirani’s gesture is, in fact, not without precedent: Grenadians have a long history of showing their kind-heartedness to fellow individuals.

As recently as 2005, this small island showed how big its heart is when Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry VC; a Grenadian British Army Soldier, was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for saving the lives of members of his unit on not one, but two occasions. To date, he is the youngest recipient and first man to be awarded the Victoria Cross since 1982.

In addition, nearly fifty years ago, when the Italian cruise liner, the Bianca C, caught fire and sank, hundreds of Grenadians rushed to the aid of those onboard, feeding, sheltering and clothing them as needed. A statue known as the ‘Christ of the Deep’ still stands on the Carenage in the town of St George’s today as an expression of gratitude to Grenadians for their remarkable acts of kindness.

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