SAN JUAN -- The television component of the Caribbean's $16 million
regional marketing campaign will resume in the U.S. on Jan. 31 and
will run through March, according to Ralph Taylor, chairman of the
Caribbean Hotel Association and head of the CHA's Charitable Trust
which oversees the campaign.
CHACT is a public/private sector conglomeration of major hotel
chains, airlines and credit card companies that have joined forces
with the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Caricom [Caribbean
Community] and other non-Caricom nations to market and promote the
Caribbean as a single destination.
The "Life Needs the Caribbean" campaign was launched last August
and ran through November with a series of ads on major cable
networks in key markets in the U.S. Taylor said this leg will air
in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and
Washington.
"The overall intent is to brand the region and compete with
other regions of the world that have attracted Caribbean market
share," Taylor said, adding that the "goal is to strengthen
awareness of our Caribbean tourism product" and convert sales
through www.gocaribbean.com and (888) CARIBBEAN.
Although consumers can book directly through the Web site, a travel
agent component, which is linked to Expedia, enables agent
bookings as well.
Funds to support the campaign come from both the public and
private sectors, with each group contributing $8 million. However,
Taylor said that only $9 million of the total $16 million in
funding has been raised to date.
"Our challenge is to raise serious dollars," Taylor said. A
Caribbean heads of government meeting on Feb. 12 will address the
issue.
Eighteen destinations currently participate in the campaign:
Antigua and Barbuda; Aruba; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Bermuda;
Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; Montserrat; St. Kitts and
Nevis; St. Lucia; St. Maarten; St. Vincent and the Grenadines;
Trinidad and Tobago; Turks and Caicos; and the U.S. Virgin
Islands.
Notably absent are the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, but
Taylor said funding negotiations were still under way with both
destinations.