KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica’s capital city will be the main focus for this year’s Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX), which will take place at the Hilton Kingston hotel from April 25 to 27.
The annual event offers the ideal forum for leading suppliers of the Jamaica tourism product to meet with travel wholesalers and tour operators from Europe and the Americas in a professionally organized business exchange.
Giving the main thrust of this year’s staging, Kingston Area Chairman for the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Nicola Madden Greig, explained that the primary focus will be on “promoting Kingston as the sports, entertainment, culture and commercial capital of the Caribbean.”
“It (the event) is ideally poised to generate that new market or business where persons are not looking for just the sun, sea and sand vacation but are looking to immerse themselves into the culture of the destination – Kingston,” she said.
Mrs. Madden Greig noted that JAPEX will therefore, “showcase all the elements that is Kingston, from entertainment in reggae, dancehall, theatrical production, our museums, art galleries, sports.everything that is truly a Kingston product.”
Travel agents, tour operators and the international media expected for the event, will get the opportunity to experience the heritage product that Kingston has to offer, through planned visits to National Heroes Park, museums, Port Royal and other areas of heritage tourism.
Pointing to the distinct advantage of the event, the Kingston Area Chairman said that JAPEX is the single most important opportunity for the year for players and stakeholders to see the country’s product firsthand.
“This is a continuous repositioning not just for the city but for Jamaica in general and having persons on the island you get a unique opportunity to influence how they think about the destination.and they will be going out into the resort areas to get a comprehensive Jamaican experience,” she said.
“It is about educating our tour operators, travel agents and international media so that when they are at home in their own space, and they speak about Jamaica, they may do so with authority and are able to sell the product in a meaningful way,” she stressed.
JAPEX is an annual event of the JHTA and the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), and is supported by every Jamaican organization involved in the development, promotion and sale of the island’s tourism product.
