Jamaica Tourist Board sales delegation meets with top travel agencies

THE JAMAICA Tourist Board’s (JTB) sales and marketing team recently visited Trinidad and Tobago to woo Trinidadians to visit Jamaica.

The team, led by Camile Glenister, deputy director of tourism in charge of marketing, partnered with representatives of Caribbean Airlines to meet top-selling travel agencies in Trinidad and Tobago. The visit was aimed at building awareness among Trinidadians by equipping travel agencies with the tools needed to sell Destination Jamaica.

“We are excited to be pursuing and growing our stakes in the Caribbean tourism market,” said Glenister.

“Trinidadians are a good fit for our growth strategy, as they love Jamaican music, our jerk cuisine and welcoming Jamaican vibe. We anticipate that our meetings with the Trinidadian travel agents will bear fruit and encourage more travel to Jamaica.”

While holding discussions with Andrew Willoughby, chief executive officer of Willoughby’s Travel Services, the tourism deputy director said that each year, thousands of Trinidadians visit Jamaica to enjoy the diversity of the destination’s tourism product. She expressed that adding events such as Reggae Sumfest to the list of reasons to visit would be worthwhile. Last year Jamaica welcomed 11, 255 visitors from Trinidad and Tobago, a 6.4 per cent increase from 2017.

“I am very happy that you have come to visit us today,” said Willoughby Travel

Service CEO.

“Even though both islands have sand, sun and beaches, Jamaica has so much more to offer, and more and more people are asking about Jamaica,” he noted.

“The majority of those who want to visit Jamaica are interested in visiting for music,” he added. Willoughby went on to explain that most Trinidadians want to visit places with short driving times between activities, and are interested in the variety of eating spots.

Travel Agencies visited on the trip included Amral’s Travel Service, Haygem Tours & Travel Service Ltd, Lazzari & Sampson Travel Service, and Willoughby’s Travel Services, which are among the top-selling agencies for Caribbean Airline’s route to Jamaica. These agency visits are part of a targeted programme by the JTB, as they host seminars with the agents with plans to introduce the Jamaica Travel Specialist Programme later in April.

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CONTRIBUTED Members of the Haygem Tours and Travel Service Ltd team pose with their Jamaica-branded bags with members of the Jamaica Tourist Board’s sales and marketing team on their recent visit to Trinidad and Tobago. The merchandise were given to visited agencies and contained product updates and Jamaican memorabilia.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS Andrew Willoughby (third right), CEO of Willoughby’s Travel Services, shares lens with members of the JTB team on their recent visit to Trinidad. This is part of the JTB’s sales activation plan, geared at getting more visitors to Jamaica from Trinidad. From left: Christopher Wright, business development manager; Camile Glenister, deputy director of tourism, marketing; Karlene Shakes, national sales manager; Francine Carter Henry, tour operator and airlines manager; Trudy Dixon, Caribbean sales manager; and Maureen Smith, promotions and events officer.