The Caribbean is high on the list of preferred destinations for the incentive travel market out of the US, according to the most recent data from the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) Global.
“At the moment, the destination that North Americans are most likely to be using over the next number of years, actually, is in the United States itself. And then coming up behind that… there’s a strong preference for closer to home destinations for incentive travel visitors. The Caribbean, and Jamaica obviously, is ranking high at the moment,” said SITE Global chief marketing officer, Padraic Gilligan.
He stressed, however, that this is merely a snapshot of ongoing, unpublished research and the data could change at any time. Gilligan was speaking at one of a series of SITE Global board meetings held in Jamaica recently.
While on the island, participants used the opportunity to remind themselves what the Jamaican tourism product has to offer the incentives market. Their visit was organised by the groups and conventions department of the Jamaica Tourist Board’s (JTB) Miami office.
“We were very pleased that Jamaica was selected as the winner to have hosted them,” noted JTB manager for groups and conventions, John Woolcock.
SITE Global’s president, Kevin Edmunds explained that meeting in Jamaica provided an opportunity for members to interact with the leadership of the JTB and local stakeholders of what is considered a vital market
“We need Jamaica and the Caribbean to sell to our large clientele. Its tourism product and service are of the finest quality, which is in keeping with our and our customers’ standards,” he said during a gathering of senior executives from local five-star resorts, and several SITE members who travelled from across the globe to attend the meeting at Secrets Resorts and Spas in Montego Bay.
His colleague Gilligan agreed.
“What we have seen in the couple of days that we’ve had our board meeting in Jamaica [are] outstanding examples of luxurious five-star resorts that are the type of experience that incentive travel groups are looking for as a minimum,” he explained, adding that they had a great time staying at Secrets Resort.
Local tourism officials were just as happy to play host.
“Having the SITE Global group in Jamaica is a huge vote of confidence for the destination by some of the leading travel professionals globally. This tells us that the JTB, and Jamaica by extension, are doing an excellent job in positioning the island for another boom in tourism,” said JTB director of tourism, Donovan White.
