Early word from Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX) 2026 provide good reason to commend the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), the Jamaica Tourist Board, and all the stakeholders whose hard work made the latest staging of the island’s premier tourism trade show a success.

The numbers tell an encouraging story. Mr O’Brian Heron, the JHTA president, reports that 423 delegates participated in the four-day event, including 86 buyer companies, 82 sellers, and 57 media representatives. More importantly, 1,394 buyer/seller sessions were held — creating opportunities for the conversations that ultimately translate into hotel bookings, tours, airlift, excursions, restaurant visits, and countless other transactions across the tourism value chain.

That is precisely the point of JAPEX, which has been bringing the international tourism trade and Jamaican suppliers together since its first staging in 1990.

It is easy in this digital age to assume that business can be conducted entirely through screens, e-mail, websites, and video conferences. And, certainly, technology has transformed the way tourism is marketed and sold. But there remains enormous value in person-to-person contact, particularly in an industry in which the product being sold is not merely a room, a beach, or an excursion, but an experience.

There is only so much that can be communicated through a brochure or computer screen. Meeting Jamaican hoteliers, attraction operators, tour providers, and other tourism professionals face to face allows buyers to better understand the passion, personality, and authenticity behind the product. And the fact is, while they are here, their experience of the product makes their job easier.

Mr Heron made the point well when he noted that the 1,394 meetings demonstrate opportunities to convert interest in Destination Jamaica into actual bookings. Those encounters help to build confidence and trust — commodities that are indispensable in business.

There is already evidence that JAPEX is capable of producing substantial economic returns. The organisers report that last year’s staging generated roughly US$100 million ($15.6 billion) in commercial contracts and business negotiations for Jamaica’s tourism sector.

That is not small change. It represents business for hotels and attractions, and income for taxi operators, craft vendors, entertainers, farmers, restaurants, manufacturers, construction companies, and the many other enterprises that depend directly or indirectly on visitors to Jamaica.

It is therefore worth recognising the contribution of an initiative that has endured for more than three decades and continues to create opportunities for Jamaican businesses to meet the people who can help take their products to markets around the world.

Interestingly, the continued success of JAPEX also provides another useful lesson. Over the years, Jamaica has developed a familiar chorus of what we call “the againsters” — those who seem instinctively opposed to virtually every effort, initiative, or programme designed to move the country forward. They find reasons to doubt, disparage, or dismiss, often before an initiative has had a fair chance to demonstrate its value. JAPEX has rather effectively answered that scepticism — not with arguments, but with results.

Of course, JAPEX alone cannot solve every challenge confronting tourism. Nor should every announcement about the sector be accepted uncritically. There must always be accountability for expenditure, measurable returns, and continued attention to the competitiveness and quality of Jamaica’s tourism product. But constructive scrutiny is very different from reflexive opposition.

The encouraging early reports from JAPEX 2026 deserve to be celebrated, particularly because this year’s staging came after Hurricane Melissa caused extensive damage to tourism infrastructure in parts of the island last October. Taking the trade show to Ocho Rios after more than a decade also provided an opportunity to demonstrate Jamaica’s resilience and diversity.

Now, the real work begins. The meetings are over, the buyers and media representatives have departed. What Jamaica needs now is for those 1,394 conversations to bear fruit in the form of bookings, contracts, partnerships, and increased visitor arrivals.

We therefore look forward to the business generated by JAPEX 2026 and, more importantly, to the thousands of Jamaicans whose livelihoods will benefit when those deals become reality. That will be the most meaningful measure of success.