Television ad campaign back in the U.S. airwaves

The TV factor within a promotional blitz to sell the Caribbean for $16 million is back on the screens in the United States since late January, following a successful coverage that stretched out from August to November last year.

For three weeks, the Caribbean Hotel Association Charitable Trust (CHACT) aired the publicity guidelines under a slogan reading Life Needs The Caribbean at a rate of over $2 million. Commercial jingles will gain airplay in several U.S. markets including New York City, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

The global strategy behind the promotional campaign is the sale of the Caribbean trademark and urge competition with other world regions that have been luring an increasingly larger chunk of the U.S. travel market for nine years running. TV programming is expected to raise awareness toward the Caribbean tourist product and churn out reservations by clicking on www.gocaribbean.com, the online booking search engine, or dialing this toll-free number: 1-800-CARIBBEAN.

More Caribbean hotels qualify for online, phone sales

More than 300 hotels attached to CHA are having a finger in the pie of a new marketing campaign. CHACT, a quasi-private entity running this initiative, informed the stock of sales on the world wide web has more than doubled following the riddance of the registration fee for those hotels interested in logging on to CHA-affiliated network.

Recent figures have it that over 40 percent of CHA hotels and more than 63 percent of their rooms have been sold either online or by dialing toll-free numbers. “This is an extraordinary progress for Caribbean tourism, even though we’re setting aim at a hundred percent coverage,” Alec Sanguinetti said.

The solution provided by private trademark Expedia, Inc, Worldwide Travel Exchange (WWTE™), furnishes a reservation engine, takes calls, assists customers and runs the stock of travel choices on its website (www.gocaribbean.com).

In an easy-to-use online platform, hotelkeepers could manage their room fares and accommodations depending on either present-day or estimated occupancy rates. Hotels affiliated to CHA and currently doing business with Expedia are entitled to a knee-jerk inclusion in the program, while other CHA-partnered resorts could simply go online. Memberships for both CHA and CHACT are available at www.gocaribbean.com (choose "About CHACT").

Ralph Taylor is the Caribbean’s top VIP

Travel Agent Magazine –reaching out to over a million travel agents all across North America- has picked Barbados’ famed hotel tycoon, former CHA president and current CHACT chairman Ralph Taylor as the Caribbean’s Person of the Year.

The magazine named Mr. Taylor the top personality of Caribbean destinations in 2002 in its annual edition specially devoted to choose those people who have made major contributions to the leisure industry and travel agencies in the course of a past year. Mr. Taylor, who also heads Barbados’ National Tourism Marketing Committee and is vice president of his nation’s Tourism Authority, thanked the publication for highlighting his role in rekindling the region’s marketing recovery plan entitled Life Needs The Caribbean.