President of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), Berthia Parle, has touted the advantages of a regional advertising campaign, which she said would provide Caribbean destinations with a sustained presence on the major television networks and travel and trade publications.
Speaking in the Bahamas, Parle said while achieving this feat individually would be a financial impossibility for these destinations, coming together would allow for the sharing of resources and resulting benefits for the entire region.
“Let us get the Caribbean out there in the minds of the consumer so when they come to make the actual choice, (they) make it to the region and we all benefit,” Berthia Parle said.
A combined regional marketing and promotional campaign was also the suggestion of the World Travel and Tourism Council in a report released earlier this year. The study suggested that based on the experiences of other regions, demand for a particular destination grows sharply with an effective and well-funded marketing campaign.
While a campaign of this nature is seen as having positive implications for the region, the CHA president noted that organising this feat presented numerous challenges. Ms. Parle explained that the problems arise because some islands believe they will be marginalised or the bigger islands with greater resources would get the bulk of the publicity.
Additional problems also presented themselves when it came to selecting the pictures for the ads. She stressed however that in mounting a campaign of this nature, it is important that all involved realise that the central aim is to promote the region.
“Different islands have different needs, they want different things and they tend to be very insular in their thinking,” Ms Parle said. “If we can all come together and fund an ad that can be consistently shown on major television networks and in major trade and travel publications, then we’re encouraging people to choose the Caribbean as opposed to the Indian Ocean or somewhere else.”
The CHA president noted that with the regional promotional efforts, the idea of the Caribbean would become heightened in the minds of consumers. This would then allow individual islands to “piggy back” on the regional effort and launch promotions of their own.
Suggesting that the charge be led by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation and individual tourist boards in each destination, Ms Parle said with a combined effort the region would have the resources to get wider coverage and visibility on a more permanent and consistent basis.
