By Roy Sanford, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
JAMAICA IS poised to earn over US$1 million ($60m) from the staging of the Caribbean Hotel Association's (CHA) Marketplace 2005, which will take place at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay, St. James next January.
In addition, tourism officials are expecting that the publicity generated by the event will be immeasurable since it will provide opportunities for the marketing of Jamaica to both international and regional buyers.
"We will be getting media people from all over the world," said Godfrey Dyer, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA). Mr. Dyer was one of the speakers at yesterday's launch of marketplace in the second city.
"We will be bringing in tour operators who might be doing business here but have not been here for years, and we will be bringing those who have not started doing business here yet," he said.
BENEFIT
He added that all sections of the island's tourism industry stand to benefit immensely from the staging of the event.
"Not just hotels but allied services: airlines, tour bus companies, u-drive companies, restaurants, shops and stores, all will benefit from Caribbean Marketplace," Mr. Dyer said.
The initial budget for marketplace is about US$ 1.1 million but, according to Mr. Dyer, the organisers plan to earn a similar amount in cash in addition to the other benefits.
Each year Caribbean Market-place brings together over 200 international buyer companies (tour operators and wholesalers), represented by over 400 buyer delegates.
Over the two days of trade exposition, delegates meet and negotiate rates with some 600 supplier delegates representing hotels, ground handlers and attraction operators from 32 different Caribbean nations.
Since its inception in 1980, Jamaica is the only English-speaking Caribbean nation that has hosted the event because none of the other islands have a large enough venue to host the 2,000 delegates.
