The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) recently brought the spirit of the island to Canadian travel advisors and consumers during Canada Trade Week – a cross-country promotional campaign that included travel agent engagement events in Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto, followed by the first-ever Jamaica Travel Expo consumer event at the Pearson Convention Centre in Toronto.

Throughout the week, JTB sales team representatives were joined by dozens of industry partners – including hotels, attractions, airlines, and tour operators – to provide Canadian travellers and retailers with the latest destination news, product updates and special offers.

“We are incredibly proud of the hardworking Destination Jamaica team and all our industry partners for executing a tremendously successful Canada Trade Week,” said Angella Bennett, Regional Director, Canada, JTB. “Hundreds of Canadians from across the country came out to show their support for Jamaica and we’re confident these incredible consumer and industry events will help kick-start a strong winter season for the destination.”

Regional trade events in the three cities were attended by 430 travel agents. Advisors in each market had the opportunity to take part in dedicated supplier training sessions before enjoying a lively Destination Showcase evening featuring entertainment, Caribbean cuisine and drinks, games, photo opportunities and prize giveaways.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Travel Expo on Nov. 11 attracted more than 300 consumer attendees throughout the day. Hosted by stand-up comedian Jay Martin, the day-long activation brought the vibe of Jamaica to Canada with food and drink samples, live entertainment, tropical massage stations, face painting, interactive photo booths, destination swag, and more.

Hourly giveaways featured prizes from some of the island’s top hotels and resorts, including a $5,000 grand prize travel certificate courtesy of redtag.ca.

Toronto-area radio station KiSS 92.5FM hosted a remote broadcast at the event with on-air personality Shem Parkinson reporting live on the activities and prize winners.