Gay Nagle Myers
Travel agent specialist programs are among the tools used by Caribbean
countries to court agents by providing them with inside information,
tools, tips and navigation aids to help book clients to the destination.
Aruba, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia and
the U.S. Virgin Islands are among the islands with specialist programs,
and Cuba has one in the works.
The latest to jump on the specialist
bandwagon is the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board with its BVI
Secrets Revealed program, open to U.S. and Canadian agents at no cost.
Accompanying the online program is a mobile app and agent website at www.bvisecretsrevealed.com.
"We
had a specialist program in the past," said Sharon Flax-Mars, the BVI's
director of tourism. The
new site, she said, was "a more interactive program, a dedicated site
and a resource we hope will enable us to work more closely with the
travel adviser community."
The program follows the formula used by
other destinations of information modules, followed by an online exam.
On-site training, webinars, education credits from the U.S. Travel
Institute, a supplier directory, sales toolbox, a product showcase and
access to special rates are available to agents as specialists.
Sharon Flax-Mars
"We
want as many agents as possible and we're hoping to have 400 specialists
by the end of the year," Flax-Mars said. "We're working on agent
incentives and we'll roll out a rewards program in 2017."
Coinciding
with the launch of the specialist program was the rollout of a new
consumer website at www.bvitourism.com. Links to the agent specialists
will be added in the coming months.
Flax-Mars reported that the BVI
was enjoying a strong year in arrivals, having posted a 3.8% jump in
stayover arrivals from January through April over the same period a year
ago.
"Even more encouraging was our surge in cruise arrivals in the
first four months, up 45.6% to 349,067 passengers from the 239,726 in
the first third of 2015," Flax-Mars said.
The cruise pier in Tortola was expanded last year to accommodate every size ship expect the Oasis class.
Much
of the new Tortola Pier Park at the foot of the pier already is open,
offering shops, restaurants and space for land tours to assemble.
On
the accommodations front, the tourist board is targeting villas and
small individual properties, in addition to its portfolio of resorts. "With
Rosewood Little Dix Bay closed until late 2017 for renovations, that
puts 99 prime rooms out of inventory," Flax-Mars said. "Biras Creek
permanently closed since last summer, so we lost another 33 suites." She
added that major hotel developments could be announced in the next two
years.
Airbnb, meanwhile, is making inroads. "We see it as a
win-win, and it's today's reality, but we want them to pay their fair
share of taxes," she said.
Helping to make travel to the BVI easier
will be BVI Airways, which currently operates only regional flights
within the BVI. Starting this fall, the carrier will offer three flights
a day from Miami.
Connections on other carriers are available from San Juan and St. Thomas.