The Jamaica Tourist Board’s (JTB) inaugural European Trade Show has attracted tour operators right across Europe from Portugal to Poland.

The participants are having a good time and have been shown the very best of Jamaica’s tourism product which will enable them to see for themselves before spreading the good word when they return home.

Our Today caught up with Maria Velez, who is the product manager for CATAI (North America & Caribbean) at the JTB Expo held today at Royalton Negril in Westmoreland.

“CATAI is a tour operator based in Spain. We are now looking to develop the trade sale with Jamaica. We have tended to focus on North America but see great potential here,” said Velez.

“We are looking forward to having Jamaica as one of our destinations to sell. That’s why I am here to learn more about the country.”

Some 15 years ago, then Spanish Ambassador Jesus Silva ushered in a number of Spanish hoteliers and they have have done very well in Jamaica with brands such as Riu, Pinero Group, Iberostar and H10 becoming leading fixtures on the tourism landscape. Riu will very soon have 10 hotels in Jamaica.

So what are Velez’s impressions of Jamaica?

“I think Jamaica has very beautiful beaches and the people are so kind. I’m a foodie and here it is absolutely amazing! The curry goat, jerk, so delicious!” she exclaimed.

Her company, CATAI, founded in 1981 and headquartered in Madrid, is part of the Barcelo Group. This tourism powerhouse was founded in 1931 by Simo Barcelo in Mallorca. It is a vertically integrated tourism group with more than 250 hotels in 22 countries.

Velez said Barcelo is very familiar with the seven nights resort vacation package.

“Whereas Americans spend less time on vacation, we in Europe tend to average seven to 10 days. We are now looking to get vacationers to spend even more days in Jamaica,” she said.

So, how is Spain’s tourism product recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic?

“ At CATAI, we saw many people going to vacation in Asia but that has slowed down considerably because many countries there still have problems with COVID. That now gives the United States and the Caribbean an advantage. We are slowly getting back to where we were in 2019. We hope to make big improvements next year.”