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Brisk business at Caribbean Marketplace

Business was brisk on the floors of Caribbean Marketplace 2005, which has proven the biggest ever in the history of the premier event.

Twenty years after it first hosted the tourism trade show, Jamaica closed the three-day event on Tuesday with kudos for staging the best event ever in the fair’s history.

For president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) Godfrey Dyer, it was a heady feeling.

“The first day is very exciting. Everybody is on a high… feeling good, both buyers and sellers alike,” he said, speaking with the Observer from the trade show venue.

“Today every booth is busy and people are moving from one place to another. It is quite an exciting day, quite a good day for doing business. There are a number of suppliers I have talked to and they told me that they are doing business. Many of them told me they were doing very good business. Just looking around, I can see the majority of suppliers transacting business,” said Dyer Monday.

On Tuesday, the final day of business, the Caribbean Hotel Association on whose behalf Jamaica hosted Marketplace, effusively declared the show the most successful in its 25-year run.

“This is the biggest and most successful ever,” Alec Sanguinetti, CHA director-general and chief executive officer, he told Observer.

Jamaica invested $81 million in the event. Sanguinetti said the show pulled 1,543 buyer and supplier delegates – with buyers totalling 434 delegates from 171 companies in 46 countries.

He added that at this year’s event there were more than 12,000 appointments between buyers and sellers during the three-day fair.

“This represents more than 900 more appointments than what was scheduled last year,” Sanguinetti said, adding that the number of appointments made plays an important role in determining the success of the event.

Last year’s event was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico and up to that time, was said to be the biggest ever. Those delegates who were involved in the wheeling and dealing in Montego Bay this week, backed the assertion of the officials.

“This is my first Marketplace so I am enjoying it. But my company has been coming here for the last five, seven years. They are offering some good products and we are certainly going to take them up on their offers,” said buyer Charmaine St John of Caribbean Hotels.

Supplier Edward Pietersz of Lions Drive and Beach Resort reported that he did good business.

“I have seen a lot of people, the floor has been very busy – a lot of interested buyers. So that’s a good show for me,” Pietersz said.

“I participated (in 2003) and we had a lot of buyers from the States. Few were European buyers, but this year I see a lot more European buyers and so we get a nice mix. This particular conference has given us the opportunity to talk with people from both continents if you will, so that’s good.”

Sanguinetti, from Monday, had predicted a good outcome for show, held on the grounds of Half Moon from January 9 to 11. The booths were housed under a big tent.

“The marquee facility has given us 42,000 square feet for the selling floor where the business is conducted. That has resulted in us having the largest Marketplace ever,” he said.

“The computer selected appointments that totalled just over 12,000 appointments over the two days, which also is a record. Last year we had 11,000 so we have roughly 1,000 more appointments scheduled by the computer, in addition to which there are appointments after the computer ran. So we anticipate total appointments will be 13,000 all together. It is a record marketplace in every way for us.”

The CHA executive suggested that the location would have factored into the interest generated worldwide.

“Jamaica is a natural fit for an event like this. The ability of the destination to host an event like this, the friendliness of the Jamaican people and also the airlift into Jamaica,” he said.

The Caribbean, which in the past year has seen an increased demand for its hospitality product, estimates that tourism growth for 2004 would amount to six per cent over 2003 figures.

“We are anticipating a very strong winter season based on the advanced booking situation, the airlift is in place and when you are hot you are hot. The Caribbean is very hot right now.”

President of the Caribbean Hotel Association Berthia Parle echoed his sentiments, suggesting that the new investments in rooms and product was the pull.

“There is a lot of renewed interest and excitement from our travel partners,” Parle said. “There are a lot of new products on the market, new sites and attractions, people are investing money in training and human resource development. So the product really is fresh now.”

She also credited the Jamaican team that had organised the event locally.

“We love what we see here in terms of the organisational ability of Jamaica – the public/private sector collaboration that came together and the commitment of the organisers,” said the CHA president.

“I think these people went over and beyond the call of duty. After a while they were so passionate and committed that it was like their own baby, like their own business they were doing,” she said.

“I believe it is the only country we’ve been to where every host committee meeting, somebody from the prime minister’s office, as well as the deputy minister of tourism attended. It has made our jobs a lot easier.”

Buyer delegates spanned a range of countries including Argentina, Australia Austria, Bermuda, Canada, Columbia, and the USA. There were also delegates from Europe, including Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

In terms of suppliers, the Jamaican hospitality and tourism industry were joined by counterparts from across the region including, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda and Bonaire.

The Cayman Islands and Curacao also exhibited as well as the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Said Dyer: “The publicity and business we got out of the event was tremendous and it augurs well for tourism in the region.”

Petre Williams And Mark Cummings, Jamaica Observer

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