The Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX), organized by Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) and Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), recently offered the much-needed platform to suppliers, buyers and travel professionals to interact, ideate and network in order to chart out the future course of action. JAPEX was held virtually for the first time in 30 years of its presence.
The two-day trade show brought together a record number of participants from the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia comprising of 2,500 registrations with 2,000 travel agents, 250 tour operators, 140 supplier companies, 280 supplier delegates, 251 buyer delegates and over 158 journalists.
The destination’s resilience, commitment to recovery, and continued innovation and development throughout the pandemic were a significant theme throughout the event.
“The success of this first fully virtual trade show is great news and speaks to the innovation which has been at the forefront of the tourist industry in Jamaica as we prepare for the recovery and beyond. We look forward to the business that will emanate from this year’s event and remain confident that it will redound to the benefit of the destination,” Edmund Bartlett, Tourism Minister of Jamaica, said in his inaugural speech.
Over the two days, participants attended destination training and breakout sessions, learning about the island and setting up one-on-one business appointments via the digital platform.
JTB’s India office along with the Indian Travel Trade fraternity conducted exclusive interactions with Donovan White, Director – Tourism, JTB and the leading suppliers of the Jamaican tourism product. The meetings provided India based travel and hospitality professionals a fabulous platform to build good relations with the Jamaican delegates and tourism product suppliers.
“We’re pleased with the participation and support from international delegates for this virtual staging of the island’s leading travel trade show. It’s encouraging that since reopening the destination in June, we have welcomed over 211,000 visitors. With the holidays approaching, it is our hope that this trend will continue, as we persist on the road to the industry’s recovery in the coming months,” White said.
JAPEX LIVE saw an overwhelming 14,000 shares of content through the platform. Both breakout sessions and training sessions boasted record-breaking attendance, with 3,960 users participating in the breakouts and 1,986 engaged in training sessions. Booth visits were in excess of 25,000.
