Market Insights – Competitors April 2009
Bahamas – Launched a poster campaign in February with partners such as VS and BA. UK office has a budget of £1million.
St.Lucia - The St Lucia Tourist Board's funding for this year has been
doubled to $50 million, up from $25 million last year. A three-year "roadmap for national development" was unveiled at this week’s Caribbean Marketplace, organised by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association. A new logo, combining the iconic shape of the Pitons with the yellow and blue of the country’s flag, was revealed. Improvements to infrastructure will include the upgrading of both airports on the island and the addition of further helipads. A bypass will be built to ease traffic around the capital Castries. Royal Caribbean International has just signed a deal to contribute half the funding for a new wharf, slated for completion by 2010. Allen Chastanet, minister for tourism and civil aviation, admitted it was unlikely all development would be completed within three years, but said a clear and cohesive strategy was vital for the island. A "village tourism" concept was also launched, described by Chastanet as “shifting the focus from a national to a local level”. Villages across the island will see their waterfronts and town centre’s developed. Eight regional "brands", such as the Tribal Coast and Urban South, have been devised to differentiate key areas of St Lucia.
dda 14 fulham business exchange the boulevard london sw6 2tl main: +44 (0)20 7384 8960 fax: +44 (0)20 7736 6839 web: www.dda.uk.com datamail direct advertising limited
•
registered in england
•
registered number 2295356
•
registered office: 12 ship street brighton sussex bn1 1ad
•
vat number 521594943
Virgin Holidays – Virgin Holidays says its Caribbean sales have started the year strongly, despite economic fears. "Bookings were up for the first 15 days of January compared with last year, so there is a market out there," said purchasing director John Taker at the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Marketplace. However, he confirmed that the booking profile had shifted: "The lead-in time has come down on average by about a month for the Caribbean. There's a definite trend towards people booking later."
ILTM Those with effective business models will be the strongest. There will be a lot of casualties and those who survive will be those who adapt.” In terms of travel, we will continue to see much later booking patterns through 2009.The luxury travel business had been growing at a rate of 10% for the past four or five years due to the ease of credit available to aspirational consumers; the high-bonus culture; the boom in the property market and the doubling of high net-worth individual.Delegates vowed to continue marketing their way through the recession, with 77% saying they would increase, or maintain their marketing spend at the same levels for 2009, albeit with a higher focus on electronic channels.
Jennifer Atkinson, chief executive of ITC Classics, says any slowdown in the market to be seen as an opportunity. “People consider travel to be a right,” she said. “Times might be tough, but it is at times like these when people say they need a holiday to get away from it all. There is business out there.”