By: Staff Writer
July 28, 2023
The 42nd Caribbean Travel Marketplace will be held in Jamaica from May 20-22, 2024 and the Montego Bay Convention Centre. The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association president, Nicola Madden-Greig thanked the Jamaican government, particularly Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett and the Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association (JHTA), for partnering with CHTA to host the association’s top event, which brings together buyers and sellers of the region’s tourism products and services.
Caribbean Travel Marketplace was last held in Jamaica in 2019, and delegates, according to Madden-Greig, are keen to return to the island to experience new and newly refreshed offerings.
The CHTA’s most important event brings together buyers and sellers of the Caribbean’s tourism products and services. The Caribbean Travel Marketplace was last held in Jamaica just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.
“We at CHTA are delighted that Jamaica is building on the enormous success of our Marketplace this year in Barbados because it is where deals are made, allowing new and established buyers from all corners of the world to access a rich offering of travel products and experiences throughout the Caribbean,” Ms Madden-Greig added.
“At Caribbean Travel Marketplace we can show the world how the resilience of the Caribbean tourism sector has made our destination safe for locals and visitors alike,” Jamaican Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said of the announcement.
In addition, he considered it appropriate that his country will host this regional event as it continues its path to growth.
“This forum will contribute greatly to our tourism suppliers and buyers and will ultimately create strong partnerships in the future. It will also provide multi-destination opportunities for participants who wish to have different experiences during the period,” Bartlett said.
As per tradition, the CTM will conduct B2B that allows the signing of agreements with suppliers of tourism. There are also collaborative agreements and strategy designs that “make us smarter about how best to share the Caribbean experience with visitors from around the world,” said Madden-Greig, who is also director of marketing and sales for The Courtleigh Hospitality Group in Jamaica.
The CTM is a must attend for any hotelier or prospective hotel brand, or tourism executive in any part of the tourism sub-sector.
As minister Bartlett welcomed Marketplace participants to the Montego Bay Convention Centre next spring, noting Jamaica had much to offer—not only about the country’s tourism assets but also lessons in resilience and the critical need to recover quickly and to thrive after crises. Bartlett, a key architect and co-founder of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, which tracks disruptions to mitigate and manage their effects, said: “At Caribbean Travel Marketplace, we can show the world how the Caribbean tourism sector’s resilience has made our destination secure and safe for locals and visitors alike.”
He added: “It is quite fitting to have Jamaica host this premier regional event as we continue on our path to growth. This event will add greatly to our tourism suppliers and buyers and ultimately create strong partnerships moving forward. It will also provide multi-destination opportunities for participants who may want to have different experiences over the period.”