Expo Marketplace 2023 Officially Wraps Up
Preparations are already underway for the 2024 Expo Marketplace organized annually by the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The tentative date is for September thirteenth and fourteenth of next year. But today, the team over at B.C.C.I. returned to the Marion Jones Sporting Complex to issue awards and officially conclude this year’s expo activities. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
An awards ceremony was held at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex to mark the conclusion of the Expo Marketplace 2023. The stadium was the location for the expo held on September sixteenth and seventeenth. Among the awards were four categories for the best booth.
Kory Leslie
Kory Leslie, PR Manager, Belize Chamber of Commerce & Industry
“In the beginning stages of the expo it’s a lot of planning that goes into it along with our membership and then in the middle, it kinda becomes more about the public and delivering a good experience to visitors. So this is our way of returning that attention back to our membership and participants who were at the expo. We had a booth awards given out today. We had the best overall booth, the most outstanding youth entrepreneur, the best micro booth and then we had a favourite booth category which was the people’s choice. They voted for that through our digital map. So basically, we try to give them perks in terms of our membership. Two of the four will be receiving complementary membership with the chamber for 2024, they will be receiving a discount on their booths for the Christmas Extravaganza as well as the upcoming expo in 2024.”
There were twenty-eight gate prizes that were up for grabs this year, including a fifteen-inch laptop courtesy of Fultec Systems. Over eleven thousand visitors attended the expo, which was held for a third consecutive year at the same venue. And so visitor experience is top on the list of priorities.
Kory Leslie
“We get tons of feedback. We have direct line with all the businesses that participate and then of course, you know visitors will pull you aside and tell you what they think of the event – during the event and then you will see posts and messages. It’s grown, definitely. That’s the reason for bringing it to the Marion Jones because we could not hold the amount of participants at the ITVET anymore; it just was not manageable. But here gives us a little bit more leverage. What people don’t know is that we cap the participation every year at two hundred booths. We try to cap it there, but we always go above. This year we had about two hundred and seven or two hundred and nine booths in total around the grounds. This is a way for us to try to accommodate everyone; we don’t like to turn away anyone even though sometimes we have to. But the feedback was good. The overall consensus of the participants in our group chat was that they made a lot of sales, they met a lot people and they made a lot of connections.”
Plans have already commenced for the Expo Marketplace 2024, but B.C.C.I.’s PR Manager Kory Leslie says look out for the Christmas Extravaganza on December third, when visitors will be able to enjoy great deals just in time for the holidays.
Kory Leslie
“It’s another annual thing that we do that people look forward to. It’s early in December so that for those who are Christmas shopping at the time, they can get great deals out there as well. And it is all Belizean made – that’s the best part about it – local entrepreneurs displaying their talents, displaying their wares, displaying their services and it is something to look forward to. So that’s our next chapter. We have already started planning. We’ve already started collaborating with partners.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
