JAMAICA WILL this weekend dominate the attention of the global travel trade and bask in a cascade of international media exposure when the Ritz-Cartlon and Half-Moon hotels, Montego Bay, combine to host the 2000 World Travel Awards.
This, the seventh annual renewal of the event, runs from Saturday, October 28 through Tuesday, October 31, and will see Jamaica hosting top executives from airlines, hotel chains, cruise lines, travel agencies, and tour companies from 40 countries, including those as far-flung as Australia, Singapore, and Dubai.
Trevor Riley, Deputy Director of Tourism, told The Gleaner that although many delegates to the show would be Jamaica's competitors, the JTB was optimistic that this concentration of power brokers in the global travel trade could result in investment prospects for the local product.
Graham Cooke, president of the World Travel Awards, told The Gleaner from London yesterday that segments of the awards, especially the traditionally glittering gala awards presentation on Monday night, will be broadcast, live and delayed, to 11 television stations, including CNN and the Travel Channel in the United States, Swiss TV, and television stations in Hong Kong and Dubai.
In addition to the exposure from television coverage and the several travel trade journalists coming to cover Jamaica's first stint at hosting what the industry describes as the "Oscar awards of world tourism," the organisers have ensured that the event has a huge Internet footprint.
Mr. Cooke, who is also the president of World Internet Group, told The Gleaner that reports and highlights from the awards event would be e-mailed to "every single major travel trade editor in the world."
This is in addition to a live and delayed webcast of the event delivered to major travel websites like Expedia and Travelocity.com. In addition to footage from the event, the webcast will feature stills from a four-day photo shoot now in progress in Jamaica with a team of international travel photographers. Monday's edition of the webcast will also feature a 15-minute package using the US$20,000/minute IPIX Internet technology. IPIX, commonly called a "photo bubble," allows Internet browsers to view 360-degree panoramic images, move the images, and move around within a virtual reality simulation within the images.
Mr. Cooke, who described Jamaica as "a vibrant and exciting destination" said Jamaica's selection last year as the host of the awards was largely due to the island winning the award for "Caribbean's leading destination" for six of the seven years of the awards' existence.
Mrs. Faye Pickersgill, Jamaica's Director of Tourism, told The Gleaner that the choice of Jamaica to host the awards was the best type of endorsement the product could receive and " a recognition of Jamaica as a premier destination by an influential organisation which is benchmarking our island against global competitors."
