With a clear focus on the potential that the Indian outbound travel market holds, Jamaica Tourist Board invited Indian travel trade and media to participate for the first time in JAPEX, the key tourism fair in the country. The bet on the Indian market seems to have paid off for Jamaica as almost every travel agent from India said that the destination held immense promise for Indian visitors and that the destination would be integrated in their itineraries shortly.

As Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX 2023), the leading tourism trade fair in Jamaica, staged a return in September after a gap of four years, the focus of the event, notably for its host, Jamaica Tourist Board, was the Indian outbound travel market.

Having watched the development of the market over the past couple of years, Jamaica finally took the plunge and invited Indian travel agents as well as media to participate in JAPEX and explore the destination and the attractions that it holds for the Indian tourists.

Soon after the event opened, the discussions at JAPEX turned to the Indian market as in his Destination Report, Donovan White, Director of Jamaica Tourist Board, said that India was one of the focus markets, along with Latin America, while other potential markets included Eastern Europe, Japan and West Africa.

“The Indian market is an interesting market for us. We are surrounded by a lot of native Indians here in Jamaica. We also have a lot of Indian diaspora out in the United States, Canada and the UK. In terms of mainland, India, we have really begun to now establish our base through Trac Representation in New Delhi. Myself and Minister Bartlett are expected to be on the ground in India later this year or early next year. And the reason for that is to ensure that we can put a face to the brand in the Indian market,’’ White told India Outbound, which was the only media company at JAPEX.

“We feel that between creating new business opportunities, from mainland in India and connecting those opportunities with the Indian diaspora in the United States, the UK and Canada will create the kind of triage we need to ensure that as the Indian traveller contemplates vacation and holidays throughout the year and as well contemplate, their wedding and honeymoon opportunities. We want Jamaica to be at the forefront of those expectations,’’ White added.

Jamaican Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett was also gung-ho on the prospects of the Indian market. “India is definitely one of the key markets that we are looking after. We are expecting in fact to be visiting India later this year or at the very latest, the first quarter of 2024. I have been very well connected with the leadership of the tourism fraternity in India and I have a number of invitations for events and trade fairs in India. We are excited about that,’’ Bartlett told India Outbound, at the media breakfast at JAPEX.

Indians on board

It was not just the Jamaicans that were optimistic about development of Jamaica as a tourism destination in India. The Indian travel trade experts present at JAPEX were also very satisfied with the quality of meetings with their Jamaican counterparts at JAPEX and were equally enthusiastic about the potential for Jamaica. “It’s a fantastic platform to meet a lot of vendors and local management companies and property management companies just like us. It also gives a great idea about the variety of experiences that Jamaica has to offer, and it’s a great platform for us to be able to engage with almost every single part of the country,’’ Santhosh Kanna, Vice-President-Leisure Travel, Thomas Cook, India’s largest travel firm, tells India Outbound. Kanna was joined in his positive assessment by practically every Indian travel professional present at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, the site of JAPEX 2023.

“JAPEX 2023 has been a great platform to meet partners from Jamaica and yes, Jamaica is an important destination for India. We feel that Jamaica has a lot of potential for the Indian guest to offer and as we can see, there are a lot of cultural activities, dining experiences, accommodation experiences that Indian guests can experience here in Jamaica. We met a lot of partners, from transportation companies to experience providers to hotels, and we feel that this is a great platform for us to meet the partners here, interact with them, understand what they can offer to our guests,’’ Harjit Singh, Vice President, Away & Co, a luxury travel agent based in New Delhi, tells India Outbound.

“It has been very interactive. I have got the chance to meet some DMCs, the main hotels, some people who are into transfers. And it seems very nice and the Jamaican people are very warm. So, there is a lot of things that people can do. Also, when Indians travel, they normally travel with families. I hope that Jamaica can have more family-oriented hotels who would host families with children, since there are a few adults-only hotels here,’’ says Satarupa Mukhopadhyay, Deputy General Manager, Sales USA & Canada, SOTC Travel, a leading travel company and a subsidiary of Thomas Cook India.

“JAPEX has been very good so far. The meetings were well beyond our expectations since it is for the first time that we are visiting. Jamaica is not a very popular destination in India because of the connections. It is very far to travel. So basically, we can only suggest to people who live in the United States or the people who are going on a holiday to the US, Mexico or Canada and if they want to do an add package for luxury, then we can suggest Jamaica,’’ says Nirali Shah, General Manager, Guideline Travels, a Mumbai-based travel agency.

For some other agents like Shalini Jain, Travel Curator for Click2Travel, an online travel agency that focuses on luxury, JAPEX proved to be very helpful in terms of increasing their awareness about the destination, equipping them to sell it better to their Indian customers.

“JAPEX was an eye opener to a destination that is simply fabulous! The crystal clear waters, warm hospitality, friendly people and so much to do! Such an enlightening trip. At Click2Travel we do promote and sell Jamaica but it was at a very basic level. After JAPEX we have gained the confidence and knowledge on how to sell the destination effectively, providing accurate information about Jamaica to our guests,” says Jain.

For Louis D’Souza, Director at Tamarind Global, another travel agency in Mumbai, the event stood out as it was very well organised. “Kudos to Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) and Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) for putting up such a well co-ordinated event. The content of the seminars was relevant and insightful. My meetings with hotel partners, DMCs and tourist attractions were engaging and fruitful. It is heartening to see the enthusiasm with which the Jamaican market looks at Indian tourists and I am sure JAPEX will go a long way to increase tourism from India to Jamaica,” says D’Souza.

Jamaica for Indian visitors

At the end of meetings at JAPEX, most of the travel agents present already had a clear idea of what were the best features and attractions in Jamaica that would resonate with their clientele.

“Jamaica as a destination offers 3 to 4 different kinds of experiences for an Indian traveller. The first one, obviously, is that it has some of the best beach resorts in the world, and the beauty is that unlike some of the other island destinations, Jamaica is packed with history, culture and music. So, the main attraction is that Jamaica is a fantastic blend of a beach destination, with a historical and cultural setting. Apart from that, Jamaica also offers a lot of natural experiences such as nature walks and trekking trails, along with some fantastic waterfalls and the country also comes with some of the best water sports in the world,’’ says Kanna of Thomas Cook. “And beyond all that, Jamaica is also known for the kind of sports star that it has produced. So that is a major attraction for people looking for some sort of stargazing. And of course the famous Jamaican rum and Bob Marley are going to be the star attractions here,’’ he adds.

Singh of Away & Co is also considering broadly similar experiences for his Indian customers. “It is an amazing destination for a variety of reasons. Indians who love water sports and the river experiences or those who want to get to know the local culture can find a lot here. And then there are the rum experiences, the chocolate making and the Blue Mountains coffee, which is amazing,’’ says Singh.

Shah and Mukhopadhyay believe the main segment may be honeymooners, couples or families with children. “This is mainly for honeymooners and families with kids who want to relax and just do nothing and stay at a beach property because it has all-inclusive resorts. All meals are included, alcohol is included. They are open all 24 hours and then there are resorts with Butlers. So people who understand the value of all the services will spend this kind of money.So basically, people who go to Maldives, we can target these kind of customers,’’ says Shah.

“The biggest pull would be for families, couples and honeymooners. May be even solo travellers or groups of friends, all of these can be tapped as big segments for Jamaica,’’ says Mukhopadhyay.

Connectivity challenge

Indeed, Jamaica has all the pulls that can attract tourists, especially from India and the traffic from India to Jamaica can grow exponentially, provided the challenges of connectivity are at least partially resolved, as currently a flight via Toronto in Canada or New York/Newark in the United States is the best way to travel from India to Jamaica, making the travel almost 24 hours long, even with short layovers.

Most Indian travel agents at JAPEX cited connectivity as the single biggest hurdle in the path of Jamaica emerging as a key destination in India.

Jamaican officials say they are already engaged with airlines and other stakeholders to improve connectivity. “We will engage even further from a trade perspective, but more importantly, we want to also begin to have discussions with the airlines in India about connectivity. Without the connectivity there is no opportunity to truly begin to move Indians to this part of the world in a sustainable way. And so we are part of those discussions that we are planning with our agency company and with airlines on the ground in India, so that we begin to demonstrate the valid proposition of doing business with Jamaica, and flying, to Jamaica, or connect, or creating connectivity to Jamaica with some of their partner airline companies as well. So it is still somewhat of early days of our engagement, but we believe we have the framework already established, we have the relationships already established, and we now are in the process of activating those opportunities right here at JAPEX,’’ says White.

But irrespective of connectivity, Indian travel agents are already gearing up to offer Jamaica to their clientele. “We are planning on launching Jamaica and we are working very closely with the Jamaican Tourism Board and planning a launch with Jamaica as part of our US and North American portfolio. That is the way. And Jamaica, in particular and the Caribbean in general, has also historically had a very close connection with India. And with that connection, we are hoping to see a lot of interest coming through to make the market for the destination,’’ says Thomas Cook’s Kanna.

“Well, to start with, I feel Jamaica will be an add on destination along with the US or Canada. A lot of Indians have long-term US and Canada visas. So of course we can always take a five night or a seven nights extension from the US and Canada. But, I am sure it will take a few years for Jamaica to develop as a standalone destination for Indian travellers,’’ says Singh.

For Kanna, the destination has another major factor going in its favour, the ease of visa-free access for many Indian travellers. “From a destination point of view, one very strong factor that goes for Jamaica is that the visas are not needed for Indians so that is a fantastic contributing factor for even starting to promote the destination. In terms of connectivity, yes, it is not the greatest, but at the same time, thanks to Air India’s direct flights to the US, the connection is pretty decent,’’ he adds, in what would be music to Minister Bartlett and Director White, who both insist that the development of the Indian market is a long-term activity, which will continue for a few years to come.

According to White, the idea of bringing media and wholesale buyers from India to meet with local operators was to create a framework for doing business in the tourism trade. “We believe coming out of this we will begin to see more activities between India and Jamaica both here and with other trade shows around the world. And from there, we will continue to build over the next three to five years,’’ White says.

With both sides eager to pull up their sleeves and get to work, one can be sure that in his next Destination Report at JAPEX 2024, White would dedicate even more time and space to the development of the Indian market.