For the first time in the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s (CHTA) Caribbean Travel Marketplace history, Barbados will be the host country.
The 41st edition of the CHTA’s Caribbean Travel Marketplace will take place from Tuesday, May 9, to Thursday, May 11, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC).
Host sponsors of the event are the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) and the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA).
Chief Product Development Officer, Marsha Alleyne, explained that while people buy goods at the Travel Marketplace trade show, it is not the type of goods one thinks about in terms of actual tangible commodities.
She highlighted that the Travel Marketplace’s main objective is for suppliers and buyers in the tourism and hospitality industry to conduct negotiations face-to-face “almost like a B2B or a speed dating type of meeting” all the while experiencing the host country first-hand.
“So, what you will actually be seeing is a number of buyers and suppliers and let me just break that down for you in terms of who those persons are. So, the suppliers will be persons who own properties in the accommodation sector or who are the marketing persons in accommodations, persons who own or sell attractions for Barbados, and specifically from the hospitality area, and buyers are those persons who can move that inventory around within the region,” Ms. Alleyne explained.
In addition, she noted that the CHTA Marketplace is the largest trade marketplace in the region that happens every year. She added that Barbados is uniquely placed to host this activity because it is the first time it is being “housed in the Eastern Caribbean, and Destination Barbados must be very proud as a nation to be able to attract such a global conference”.
Ms. Alleyne continued: “This entire conference, as simple as it may appear, has taken a lot of resources to pull it all together, including a task force that comprised BTMI, BHTA, NCF and LESC team.
“This taskforce, along with other partners like the Barbados Police Service, Immigration and Customs are working to really put this entire global conference together. And what the event really will afford the persons who are coming to the island to see is our product ‘Destination Barbados’ based on accommodation, attractions, eco and heritage tourism, entertainment and of course our food which will be on showcase.”
Barbados will be home to almost 1,000 visitors, including delegates and media personnel from the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States of America. The last country to host the Caribbean Travel Marketplace was Puerto Rico.