As the coolest island in the Caribbean, you wouldn’t expect Jamaica to bring you a boring webinar or PowerPoint training session, you’d expect something colourful, something fun, something…spicy, no? Well, its tourist board hasn’t disappointed us with the launch of Jamaica Virtual Vibes.
It’s an immersive weekly deep dive into Jamaica’s vibrant culture, tasty cuisine, luxurious beach-front hotels and action-packed activities, all of which are available to British holidaymakers to enjoy right now.
Jamaica is currently on the UK Government’s amber list, which means that holidaymakers can travel to the Caribbean island but they must self-isolate for up to 10 days when returning home.
They’ll need to provide a PCR or antigen COVID test, from the age of 12, to enter Jamaica and must stay in a hotel on the designated ‘resilient corridor’, which stretches all the way from Negril along the north coast to Portland.
It’s even possible to organise events, including weddings and MICE to the island. “Jamaica is open. You can sell events, you can sell MICE,” said Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) District Sales Manager Torrance Lewis, promising to reveal further details next month in a dedicated MICE webinar.
Lots of venues on the island have large open spaces, ideal for outdoor events, and you can still book VIP services at the airports, such as fast-track and private lounges.
Also, it’s super-easy for Brits to arrange their COVID test-to-return since Jamaica has increased the number of test centres and there are antigen test facilities at both Kingston and Montego Bay airports.
In the first episode of the Jamaica Virtual Vibes webinar, aired on Wednesday 19 May, agents were treated to an outdoor cooking class on location (you could almost smell those shrimps sizzling), tips from the Hilton Rose Hill golf course to improve their swing, and a cocktail-making session (when a quite frankly lethal-looking cocktail was mixed in tribute to Jamaica’s favourite son Bob Marley).
True fact: Jamaica has more bars per square mile than any other country in the world!
In the 45-minute whirlwind session, agents were also taken on a virtual tour of the all-inclusive family-friendly Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa, one of Jamaica’s most popular hotels, and even given a lesson in the colourful Jamaican patois, which will come in handy for your next fam!
Talking of which, Jamaica can’t wait to get agents back out to the island and JTB Business Development Officer Shenika Ramsay said details of fam trips will be revealed in the future.
In the meantime, there are some great incentives for agents to sell Jamaica including cash rewards for logging Jamaica bookings on its agent platform, jamaicarewards.co.uk. The platform not only offers cash rewards but also training and has an option for agents to request a one-on-one session with any of the sales team.
The health and safety of tourists is crucial, so the JTB’s Elizabeth Fox the Regional Director will also be online on Jamaica Virtual Vibes webinars to provide latest updates on destination protocols, as well as flight updates.
Agents are invited to participate in the webinar, ask questions and even make suggestions for what they’d like to see in future episodes. And in a uniquely Jamaican version of Challenge Anneka (Google it, youngsters), the JTB’s Afiya Henry-Edwards action-woman will accept requests for activities you’d like her to road test.
The webinar will take place every Wednesday at 3.30pm and you’re all invited. Email [email protected] to register. Jamaica Virtual Vibes Webinar Registration – Zoom
Likkle more zeen!
