KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX), Jamaica’s premier hospitality and tourism trade show which opens today, has earned a rousing vote of confidence from overseas wholesalers and media.

Against a background of reports of contractions and declines in tourist arrivals in many tourism destina-tions worldwide, JAPEX has successfully attracted participation from some of the world’s largest, most successful tour operators and wholesalers as well as trade journalists from North America, the United Kingdom, the Caribbean and Jamaica.

Friday, with only three days to go before the official start of the trade show, the Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association (JHTA), hosts in collaboration with the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), reported confirmed registration of 75 overseas tour operators.

Included among them are executives from industry leaders like Apple Vacations, Air Canada Vacations, Expedia Inc, Jet Blue Airways Getaways, Thomas Cook North America, Travelocity and West Jet Vacations Inc.

Though most of the wholesale companies are headquartered in the USA or Canada, JAPEX will also have several buyers from the United Kingdom, Russia and Mexico, Germany and the Netherlands Antilles.

The overseas buyers will meet with over 230 supplier delegates from the Jamaica hospitality and tourism industry, including representatives of hotels, attractions, airlines, car rental companies and travel and tour companies.

More than 140 overseas travel agents will also walk the JAPEX trade floor to meet and negotiate contracts for travel to Jamaica. Meanwhile, the local media corps will be joined by colleagues from Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Scandinavia and Russia.

JHTA president Wayne Cummings has already signalled the significance of JAPEX ’09 given the global eco-nomic downturn.

Cummings noted that Jamaica had fared for better than many other Caribbean tourist destinations January – April, 2009, and “the JHTA and JTB are expecting to use JAPEX to build on this momentum to keep Jamaica top of mind for the travelling public”.

Apart from scheduled meetings between buyers and suppliers, JAPEX participants will enjoy a range of social events including an official opening reception today, and a “White Nite Island Fantasy” on Sandals Cay tomorrow. The show ends on Wednesday.