New Jersey travel agents fired up on Jamaica for winter
Published:Monday | November 1, 2021 | 12:06 AMDave Rodney/Gleaner Writer
Scores of travel professionals poured into the ritzy Manor in West Orange last Thursday for a celebration of Jamaica’s tourism product.
The high-energy event, called the 2021 Destination Product Launch, was hosted by the Jamaica Tourist Board’s (JTB) Northeastern USA team. This gathering was the first face-to-face engagement that Jamaica has had with large numbers of industry partners in the New Jersey region since 2019, and dozens of travel agents had the opportunity to hear some exciting news on developments in the travel trade regarding Jamaica’s tourism product. JTB team members Phillip Rose, Victoria Harper and Kirk Whyte thanked the agents for their continued support, and told the gathering that travel from the northeast has bounced back faster than was initially projected, with increased airlifts from Newark, New Jersey. Additionally, American Airlines will launch an inaugural non-stop flight from Philadelphia to Kingston on November 4. And starting December 17, Frontier will further boost airlift from Newark to Montego Bay with additional flights.
CONFIDENCE IN DESTINATION JA
A number of leading resort brands doing business in Jamaica were in West Orange too, enticing the agents with alluring video presentation and updates on their individual properties. Among the presenters were Palladium Resorts, Blue Diamond Resorts (Royalton), Sandals, Bahia Principe, Deja Resorts and The Cliff. The travel agents, in turn, expressed great confidence in Destination Jamaica, pointing out that they were happy for Jamaica on her recent wins as Caribbean’s Leading Destination and Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Destination at the recent 2021 World Travel Awards. They also expressed confidence in the island’s safety protocols for COVID-19.
The New Jersey travel extravaganza forms part of a broader market penetration that is hitting 21 cities along the Northeastern Seaboard, from Virginia to Maine. The blitz of promotional activity is expected to significantly boost travel to Jamaica for the 2021-2022 winter tourist season.
Others attending the event were Alsion Roach Wilson, Jamaica’s consul general in New York, and Jacinth Clayton-Hunt, president of the Jamaica Organization of New Jersey.