The Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX), which was scheduled to take place November 8-10, 2021 as a hybrid in-person/virtual event, will now be rescheduled to 2022. Organisers have opted to go that route in order to once again host participants in-person.
The tourism industry trade show is usually hosted annually by the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) in association with the Jamaica Tourist Board ((JTB).
“[The 2022 event] is expected to benefit from the opening up of global borders and the uptick in overseas travel after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Clifton Reader, President of the JHTA.
Director of Tourism Donovan White agreed.
“JAPEX has traditionally been an in-person event; however, the pandemic had moved us to change its structure to a hybrid event,” he said. “It is our hope that by delaying the event, we may be able to generate robust in-person attendance for JAPEX when it takes place early next year.”
White continued, “Demand for Jamaica’s tourism product remains strong, and we are confident that our world-class Jamaica CARES health and safety protocols, including our resilient corridors, will ensure yet another successful event in the near future.”
The event is highly anticipated.
“Our overseas partners in the travel trade — tour operators, travel agents, travel media — are all geared up to resume negotiations with our Jamaican suppliers in the hospitality and tourism sector and we look forward to extending our world-renowned hospitality and hosting them in the style to which they have been accustomed, here in Jamaica,” added JHTA’s Reader.
JAPEX, Jamaica’s premier tourism trade event, is a forum for the island’s tourism industry partners and stakeholders to engage in prearranged business-to-business meetings with international buyers. It provides opportunities for attendees to discover what’s new in Jamaica, strengthen long time business contacts and network to make new ones. Hotels and resorts, transportation providers, tours and attractions all exhibit at the event, which attracts hundreds of international travel agents, wholesalers, and tour operators, as well as leading suppliers in the local tourist sector.
Jamaica remains open for travel and continues to welcome visitors safely. Its health and safety protocols were among the first to receive the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Safe Travels recognition that allowed the destination to safely reopen to travel in June 2020. The island has also recently announced new cruise developments and ninety per cent of planned tourist investments remaining on track.