Jamaica’s Local Manufacturer Enjoying Linkages from Caribbean Marketplace
Director and Co-owner of JFP, Metry Seaga, says his company has reaped very positive returns from their recent participation in Caribbean Travel Marketplace (CTM) 2014 and he is now in multi-million dollar negotiations with local and Caribbean hoteliers to supply furniture to their properties.
The Spanish Town Road-based JFP, which was established in 1985, produces tables, chairs, counters, planters, divider walls, bars, and complete hotel room suites for both the domestic, Caribbean and Central American markets.
Mr. Seaga, who is also Deputy President of the Jamaica Manufacturer’s Association (JMA) and member of the Tourism Linkages Council, said Caribbean Travel Marketplace provided significant benefits to participants. “However, making contact with the hoteliers is just the start, and we must now build on it. We have to stay on top of the hoteliers and become a part of their lives and work with them,” he said.
Last held from January 12-14, at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, St. James, Caribbean Travel Marketplace, is the largest and most important business-to-business marketing event for the region's hospitality industry and brings together numerous tour operators from across the globe and supplier companies from various Caribbean countries as well as other tourism interests.
At this year’s event, CTM and the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) collaborated to establish a special linkages display area that afforded local manufacturers the opportunity to interact with hoteliers and other tourism partners from other Caribbean destinations and showcase Jamaica’s manufacturing output.
Mr. Seaga commended efforts by the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment to strengthen linkages between the private sector and the local and regional tourism sectors. “It is a very commendable move by Minister McNeill. This is definitely the way forward. For too many years we have patted ourselves on the back for the number of tourists coming to Jamaica and not for what they are contributing to the economy. Tourist numbers are up so we need to boost the economy as well,” the JMA Deputy President said. “When a tourist comes to Jamaica it is not only about the vacation. It is the total experience, the services, the entertainment. Minister McNeill gets that,” Mr. Seaga added.
Chairman of the Tourism Linkages Council, Donovan Perkins, said he is heartened by this Caribbean Travel Marketplace success story. “These are exactly the kind of partnerships that must be encouraged between the tourism industry and other sectors of the economy if we intend to increase local production and reduce Jamaica’s import bill. These linkages are critical if we are going to turn the country’s economy around,” he said. “This is one of several success stories and we need to continue to strengthen the linkages between the various sectors to stimulate economic growth”
The Tourism Linkages Council, an arm of the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment, has been tasked with deepening the linkages between tourism and the rest of the economy by embracing other sectors including manufacturing, agriculture and entertainment, and to stimulate further growth in those sectors.
