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Tourism Ministry Hosts Speed Networking Event On March 12

By: , March 10, 2020

The Key Point:

The Ministry of Tourism, through the Tourism Linkages Network, will host its annual Speed Networking event on Thursday (March 12) at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
Tourism Ministry Hosts Speed Networking Event On March 12
Photo: Michael Sloley
Director of the Tourism Linkages Network, Carolyn McDonald-Riley, highlights initiatives being undertaken by the entity to further diversify the country’s tourism offerings and create business opportunities among various sectors.

The Facts

  • The event, now in its sixth year, will feature a series of 15-minute meetings throughout the day, involving executives of supplier companies and managers of properties, restaurants, attractions and other tourism entities.
  • Director, Tourism Linkages Network, Carolyn McDonald-Riley, told JIS News that the event forms part of the Ministry’s thrust to strengthen linkages and increase business opportunities between local suppliers of goods and services and players in the tourism industry.

The Full Story

The Ministry of Tourism, through the Tourism Linkages Network, will host its annual Speed Networking event on Thursday (March 12) at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

The event, now in its sixth year, will feature a series of 15-minute meetings throughout the day, involving executives of supplier companies and managers of properties, restaurants, attractions and other tourism entities.

Director, Tourism Linkages Network, Carolyn McDonald-Riley, told JIS News that the event forms part of the Ministry’s thrust to strengthen linkages and increase business opportunities between local suppliers of goods and services and players in the tourism industry.

“This year, apart from the usual, with manufacturers and traditional service suppliers meeting with hoteliers, we are going forward with our coffee processors to ensure that more of our coffee gets into the tourism industry. We are also going with our carnival stakeholders to form those linkages, so that more of the tourists will participate in our tourism product,” she said.

She noted that 135 supplier companies and 38 hotels have, so far, registered for the event.

Mrs. McDonald-Riley told JIS News that a number of small and medium tourism enterprises have benefited from the initiative over the years, gaining valuable exposure for their businesses and opportunities for contracts.

“In 2017, we had contracts valued at $181 million; in 2018, we had $200 million, and last year the contracts grew to over $250 million,” she noted.

“We have over $630 million in contracts just from this one-day event. It continues to climb because some persons would not have been able to be given business on the spot by virtue of what they do, but serious enquiries would have been made and inroads would have been created and they form greater linkages even outside,” Mrs. McDonald-Riley added.

She is encouraging persons, who have registered for the event, to come out on time.

Last Updated: March 10, 2020

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