Jamaica gets set for first Caribbean Marketplace in a decade

Jamaica will host the annual Caribbean Marketplace, a tourism trade show that has billing as the premier forum for bringing business to the region.

The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) and the Caribbean Hotel Association are partnering on its staging, with Half Moon in Montego Bay as the selected venue for the January 9 to 11 event. Jamaica last hosted Marketplace in 1985.

The event is expected to generate the interest of 25 Caribbean destinations, the sellers of service, as well as international travel agencies and tour operators, the buyers. Meetings are scheduled in advance through the Matchmaker appointment system used to register buyers.

To date, approximately 130 buyer companies have registered from countries including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Mexico, Russia, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Australia.

Approximately 241 supplier companies have registered from countries such as Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Curacao, Guadeloupe and Mexico.

Tour operators, the JTB said, will be arriving ahead of the January 9 start to tour new properties and the major developments under construction in the Montego Bay and Ocho Rios areas.