LAS VEGAS – Jamaica had another strong year of building relationships and closing contracts to build out future business at the Annual IMEX America Expo in Las Vegas, the largest meetings industry trade show in the U.S. held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.
Led by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) Groups & Conventions Manager John Woolcock and Business Development Officer Margaret Clarke-Wheatley, the team was joined by a number of destination partners including Montego Bay Convention Centre (MBCC), AmStar, Jamaica Tours Ltd. (JTL), Island Routes, Round Hill Hotel & Villas, Playa Hotels & Resorts (Hyatt Ziva/Zilara, Hilton Rose Hall & Jewel Resorts) along with Glamour Luxury Destination Concierge and Moon Palace Jamaica.
Jamaica’s booth was busy and generated much interest throughout the three days with over 300 appointments held and numerous leads received for groups interested in hosting future events in Jamaica.
Buyers hailed from the United States, Canada and Latin America, with an unprecedented amount of interest from Brazil.
IMEX America provided the Jamaica Tourist Board the opportunity to follow up with Petrobras Incentive from Brazil to ensure the continued success of the on-island program.
The Petrobas Incentive, which brought over a thousand people to Jamaica in May, has ensured that Jamaica is sourced by more Brazilian Planners for future programs and is already generating continuous buzz for Jamaica in the Brazilian market.
The Jamaica Tourist Board also took the IMEX Sustainability Pledge and agreed to maintain a green booth both by using a water cooler instead of plastic water bottles and by eliminating paper brochures.
In its ninth year, IMEX America received an estimated 14,000 participants this year – generating an economic impact of more than $20 million. With 3,500 exhibitors from 150 countries on the floor, over 76,000 individual and group appointments were made, marking a 3-percent increase in appointments from last year.
