TOURISTS have bartered their way to Jamaica using cashless trading platform Anbell Trade Exchange (ATX), according to ATX Chief Executive Officer Andrew Pairman.

Since ATX’s official launch last July and its accreditation from the international Reciprocal Trading Association (IRTA), Pairman said the hospitality and tourism businesses have been gaining momentum on the exchange.

Bartering enables companies to sell their products and services for credit, which can be used to pay for items offered over the participating exchanges.

“Hotel room accommodation have been traded and persons have visited the island from Canada,” said Pairman.

What’s more, local businesses have received accommodation for its workers in the United States.

But there wouldn’t be much room for accommodation during the busy winter tourist season, which runs from December 15 through to the end of April, according to Pairman.

“It will pick up more when the season ends as some accommodations will have low occupancy levels during that time,” he said.

Members are assigned a trade broker who assists the purchasing member by providing a list of the companies that produce the products or services needed and prices in trade dollars. The broker also lets members know how much credit they have, or debit, if they have bought more than they have sold up to that point.

The hospitality and restaurants category has recently been added to ATX. International courier service, home entertainment and renewable energy are also recent additions to the over 50 listed categories on the local exchange.

Pairman figures tourist arrivals to the island through barter could grow once more businesses come on board.

Since launching last year, Pairman said 50 companies have joined with the local exchange, and can trade over 100 trade exchanges that are operated by the IRTA in over 25 countries.

But most of the trades have so far been done on the local exchange.

“People have to spend in order to earn trade credit and then plan their expenditure,” he said.

Trade credit is earned when a company provides goods and services and the account is credited with that value traded.