Jamaica declared perfect destination for MICE tourism
Published:Monday | August 28, 2023 | 12:09 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau
Jamaica has been dubbed the ideal location for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) tourism with an estimated 15,000 new hotel rooms coming to the hospitality sector over the next seven years and an increase in direct flights from three new US gateways later this year.
Jill Birkett, vice-president of wellness groups at Questex, made that declaration while she was in Jamaica for the Questex-sponsored 11th annual Caribbean & Mexico Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchange (CMITE), which was held August 21-24 at Secrets Wild Orchid in Montego Bay, St James.
CMITE serves as a platform for meeting planners and incentive buyers from the United States and Canada to connect with suppliers based in the Caribbean and Mexico region.
“It is very important that quality accommodations are available, that there is strong airlift which really turns the light on direct flight for which Jamaica has,” Birkett said.
“The people we invite here have already committed to bringing meeting guests to destinations where they can experience different cultures and that’s why Jamaica is a great destination for us,” the Questex vice president of wellness groups declared.
More direct flights
MICE tourism focuses on business trips where various sized groups of people attend events or activities for work-related or educational goals. The global value of this sector of the tourist business was US$876.42 billion in 2022, and between 2023 and 2030, it is expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent.
More than 40 buyers and suppliers heard introductory remarks from Donovan White, director of tourism at the Jamaica Tourist Board, who said corporate tourism is returning to the nation and that it would be accompanied by an increase in direct flights from new gateways out of the United States.
“Frontier Airlines has added new non-stop service into Montego Bay from three additional US gateways, which includes Chicago, flying once a week on Saturdays. St Louis, flying three times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays; and Dallas-Fort Worth, operating three times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,” White said.
In addition to these new gateways, starting October 7, the tourism director informed that Southwest Airlines has added new flights into Montego Bay from Kansas City International Airport in Missouri, operating on Saturday and that a month later on November 4, United Airlines, one of our biggest partners will opening up the west coast for us, flying from Denver into Montego Bay, operating on Saturdays.
“We recently received an airlift also from Austin, by our long-time partner American Airlines and we are now in discussions, and have been in discussions actually about Tampa in the south,” White revealled. “This as you can well imagine translates to our ability to provide more access, more opportunities for your business and clients to get to Jamaica more easily, more efficiently and more often.
“To help accommodate these additional gateways we are also in the midst of a full-scale renovation of Montego Bay airport which includes a US$70-million runway expansion and the expansion of the immigration hall is now under way to ensure that, when you are coming in the accommodation will be even more grandiose,” he explained.
In presenting the island assets and capabilities in facilitating the MICE market, White said that, in the next two to five years, about 8,000 new hotel rooms will be built throughout Jamaica; an additional 7,000 rooms will be added over the following three years, bringing the total number of new rooms to about 15,000; many of these rooms will have ample meeting space and amenities designed especially for groups.