The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) has revealed that registration for the 30th Anniversary of Caribbean Marketplace is up 48% compared to the same time one year ago. 343 delegates representing 153 companies have registered for the leading Caribbean event set to take place in The Bahamas on January 22 – 24.

Registrations have been received from the following countries: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, France, Grenada, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, St. Barths, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Martin, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, United Kingdom, United States and United States Virgin Islands.

“The numbers we are seeing for Caribbean Marketplace support the fact that interest in Caribbean vacations is on the rise,” said Josef Forstmayr, president of CHTA. “The industry recognizes that for the past 30 years, Caribbean Marketplace has allowed tour operators, hoteliers, attractions and restaurants to position their companies ahead of their peers by proactively participating in the industry’s most important marketing event.”

Forstmayr continued, “The demand for Caribbean vacations from across the globe is on the rise and these companies who have registered for Caribbean Marketplace know the importance of attending this two-day event. The business that is conducted at Caribbean Marketplace will shape bookings for 2012 and into 2013.”

Caribbean Marketplace 2012 will be held at the Atlantis, Paradise Island Jan 22-24, 2012 and presented by CHTA, The Islands Of The Bahamas, MasterCard and Virgin Holidays. Caribbean Marketplace is the requisite business-to-business marketing event for the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry. At Caribbean Marketplace, hoteliers meet, network, negotiate and conduct business with buyers from around the world.

CHTA anticipates that the 2012 edition of the event will continue the successes achieved at Caribbean Marketplace 2011, which saw the third largest attendance over the past decade, with 1,518 delegates as compared to 1,362 in 2010 and an increase in the number of buyer companies by 20% and buyer delegates by 17%, up from 101 and 268 respectively in 2010. The number of scheduled appointments totaled 11,880 over the two-day event in 2011.