NEW DELHI, 27 February 2024: The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) announced its first-ever participation at SATTE 2024 - South Asia’s leading travel and tourism event (from 22 to 24 February 2024 at India Expo Mart, Delhi NCR, India) in a bid to develop and deepen its tourism relationships within India’s tourism industry.
After the huge success of the Jamaica Product Exchange 2023 (JAPEX), Jamaica’s first in-person trade event post-pandemic, JTB’s debut at SATTE 2024 signifies the importance of India as one of the major source markets for travel to Jamaica. The Jamaica Tourist Board hosted six travel agents from the Indian travel trade fraternity and an Indian media house for JAPEX 2023 which included destination experiences of the island’s diverse product offerings.
The Indian market represents huge opportunities to build outbound travel. The JTB is currently looking at increasing their tourism activities in India and among the India diaspora, residing in Canada, the US and the UK. There is a huge market for weddings, there is a confluence of cricket, a rapidly growing middle and upper middle class, over time better flight connectivity, and a very active Indian community in Jamaica itself that will drive growth from this increasingly lucrative market.
During SATTE 2024, visitors to the JTB Booth discovered Jamaica’s world-class hotels, rejuvenating spa and wellness offerings, adventure activities and much more. Travel trade professionals explored leisure travel opportunities and learned more about the island’s culture, world famous attractions and restaurants as well as business travel incentives in the MICE space. India continues to be a significant market for Jamaica and the JTB’s presence at SATTE was a great way for the island destination to interact with Indian travel fraternity.
Speaking on Jamaica’s debut participation at SATTE 2024, Donovan White, Director of Tourism of Jamaica says, “India is an emerging market that Jamaica intends to leverage to increase our arrivals and earnings. It represents huge possibilities cultural exchange, and we look forward to showcasing our diverse offerings and warm Jamaican hospitality.
Jamaica’s tourism sector had a record-breaking year in 2023, with a report indicating that the influx of visitors exceeded both the figures from 2022 and the pre-pandemic record established in 2019. The Jamaica Tourist Board has revealed that approximately 4.1 million travellers visited the country in 2023, marking a 16 percent rise from the previous year and a 7.5 percent surge compared to 2019’s visitor count.
SATTE (South Asia’s Travel & Tourism Exchange) offers a comprehensive platform to domestic and international buyers and professionals from across the travel, tourism and hospitality industry along with National and State Tourism Boards (NTOs and STOs). SATTE is recognized as Asia’s Leading travel and tourism exhibition to conduct business, share knowledge, exchange ideas in order to arrive at solution-driven innovations to accelerate the pace of the growth of the industry.
Jamaica hosted the second Global Tourism Resilience Conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre from February 16 to 17. The Ministry of Tourism along with the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) collaborated to stage the two-day event. Jamaica is the second developing country that has enabled a date to be established globally for any discipline or any kind of economic or social activity. The event featured panel discussions, networking opportunities, presentations and lively debates on matters relating to building resilience in tourism.
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About Jamaica Tourist Board
The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), founded in 1955, is Jamaica’s national tourism agency based in the capital city of Kingston. JTB offices are also located in Montego Bay, Miami, Toronto and London. Representative offices are located in Berlin, Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam, New Delhi, Tokyo and Paris.
In 2023, the JTB was declared ‘World’s Leading Cruise Destination’ and ‘World’s Leading Family Destination’ for the fourth consecutive year by the World Travel Awards, which also named it named “Caribbean’s Leading Tourist Board” for the 15th consecutive year, “Caribbean’s Leading Destination” for the 17th consecutive year, and the “Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Destination” in the World Travel Awards – Caribbean.’ In addition, Jamaica was awarded six gold 2023 Travvy Awards, including ‘Best Honeymoon Destination’ ‘Best Tourism Board – Caribbean,’ ‘Best Destination – Caribbean,’ ‘Best Wedding Destination – Caribbean,’ ‘Best Culinary Destination – Caribbean,’ and ‘Best Cruise Destination – Caribbean’ as well as two silver Travvy Awards for ‘Best Travel Agent Academy Program’ and ‘Best Wedding Destination – Overall.’’ It also received a TravelAge West WAVE award for ‘International Tourism Board Providing the Best Travel Advisor Support’ for a record-setting 12th time. TripAdvisor® ranked Jamaica the #7 Best Honeymoon Destination in the World and the #19 Best Culinary Destination in the World for 2024. Jamaica is home to some of the world’s best accommodations, attractions and service providers that continue to receive prominent global recognition and the destination is routinely ranked among the best to visit globally by prestigious international publications.
For details on upcoming special events, attractions and accommodations in Jamaica go to the JTB’s Website at www.visitjamaica.com or call the Jamaican Tourist Board at 1-800-JAMAICA (1-800-526-2422). Follow the JTB on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. View the JTB blog at www.islandbuzzjamaica.com.