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Courtesy of the Free National Movement
Neko Grant, Bahamas Minister of Tourism and Aviation |
Facing tough competition, tougher post-9/11 travel requirements, and problems in its tourism industry, The Bahamas is launching a $26.6 million promotional and marketing campaign in America, Europe, and Asia.
It’s an “aggressive” effort, says Niko Grant, minister of tourism and aviation in the new government of Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
Targeting U.S. market segments and pursuing tourists in China’s booming economy and elsewhere – the campaign will counter an “unprecedented” competitive market, Grant said.
The Bahamas faces wealthier competitors and must be more creative to reverse dips in tourism visits and spending in The Bahamas since 2005, Grant told Parliament recently, when outlining the effort.
Touching on tough competition, Grant noted The U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico were promoting themselves as “the Caribbean islands where you don’t need a passport.”
He was referring to the “competitive edge” they were handed by new Homeland Security regulations. They require U.S. travelers to The Bahamas to produce passports upon reentering the U.S.
This “poses the biggest threat to our franchise on the impulse vacationer market from the U.S.,” Grant said, referring to people that “on a whim decide to hop on a plane.” But due to burdens associated with post-9/11 security regulations, this market has plunged, he said, and “will probably never fully recover.”
Grant welcomed news that the U.S. had eased the passport requirements until Sept. 30, 2007, due to a backlog of applications. Now, citizens who have applied but not yet received their passports could enter and depart the U.S. by air by presenting their passport application and a government-issued photo ID.
Stressing the need to work smarter and more creatively with the tourism budget, Grant said $1.7 million would go toward improving and developing information technology and e-commerce. He mentioned “ongoing developments with Travelocity and Expedia in particular,” not to mention adding Orbitz and Cheap Caribbean to Internet-related marketing.
As part of the effort, Grant said $4.1 million will be spent to develop air lift from the U.S., Europe and Asia. It’s now adequate to meet current demands, he said, but more will be needed. (See separate story.)
Last year, The Bahamas registered 4.8 million tourist visits – 300,000 fewer than in 2005 for a six percent decline. Other Caribbean destinations suffered declines as well, in part, because of a softening cruise ship market. But the numbers were still alarming, said Grant, in outlining a new and stepped-up marketing effort.
Turning to China, Grant said, “It is now widely anticipated that by the end of 2007, China would have replaced the U.S. as the largest originator of world tourists.” Accordingly, stepped-up efforts will be taken to court this market. One will enable Chinese travelers to more easily obtain visas to The Bahamas, Grant said in a separate interview.
In addition to China, Grant told Parliament that promotional efforts will target India, which, like China, is “projected to deliver tremendous numbers of world travelers as its economy also strengthens and continues to create a growing affluent class of Indians.” The previous administration had been working as well to target these markets.
New promotional efforts also will be undertaken in Canada and in Europe where the traditional markets have been Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
As part of its campaign, The Bahamas will “rebrand” its islands – stressing cultural festivals and history, Grant noted. The industry over the years became too focused on sun, sea, and beaches, Grant indicated in a separate interview.
Outlining promotional efforts in the U.S., Grant noted that African-Americans are “increasingly more affluent. We have therefore singled out this market as a target group for travel to The Bahamas.”
He said, “The campaign will utilize targeted media that will reach affluent African-Americans. We will saturate the target market and through carefully developed PR initiatives will make great and effective use of third party endorsement.”
At the same time, the U.S. campaign will target the “religious market” and “position the destination as one possessing a rich spiritual heritage,” Grant said. And it will “promote the attributes and amenities of the islands of The Bahamas in the context of our destination’s appropriateness for the hosting of meetings, retreats and conventions,” he added.
Yet another new market will be Bahamians themselves, Grant said. They will be “encouraged to do more traveling in The Bahamas.” |
