Tourism Department Steps Up Marketing Strategy

Details

Tourism News

Monday, 04 June 2012 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St John's - A partnership forged with one of the world’s leading online travel websites and two local tourism entities is one of the latest strategies being employed to boost the destination’s marketing campaign.

According to a release, as the country seeks to strengthen its “aggressive destination marketing programme”, the Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA) and the Antigua Hotels & Tourist Association (AHTA) have teamed up with the world's #1 ranked travel website in the world.

“We are very excited to launch an online campaign with Expedia,” ABTA’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Colin C James said.

“By partnering with a powerhouse like Expedia, we are now able to make direct contact with millions of potential visitors in the comfort of their homes. This is the type of direct marketing that we need.

James described Expedia as a world recognized brand that boasts an unsurpassed reputation of being the leading online travel booking engine.

“Hence, for the ABTA, this was a natural progression for our marketing portfolio, as we recognised that in order to operate in today’s global economy, we must have the necessary global reach to offer our product and promote our hotels.  Through Expedia we are able to dramatically increase client contact as well as online presence and visibility,” the Tourism Authority’s boss said.

The online campaign uses an Antigua & Barbuda landing page along with strategically placed banner advertising to promote discounted Antiguan hotel rates positioned throughout the Expedia and Hotels.com websites. When the user clicks on a campaign banner advert he/she is redirected to a listing of the local hotels offering discounted rates.

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In addition to taking the user directly to these offerings, the system has the capability of tracking the click-through rate of users and can also tailor future web searches based on past user history.

To date, 32 local properties have contracted to benefit from the Expedia campaign. The AHTA said their hotels have seen up to a 50 per cent increase through bookings generated by Expedia with Expedia (USA) representing 43 per cent of bookings, 11 per cent from Expedia (UK), 8.5 per cent from Expedia (Italy); and 8 per cent from Hotels.com (USA).
 
With a more structured campaign in place, the ABTA and the AHTA expect to see an increase in future visitor arrivals and room bookings, the communiqué stated.

Initially, the online campaign will be promoted in the United States, United Kingdom and Italian markets through Expedia.com (USA), Hotels.com (USA), Expedia UK, and Expedia Italy. Expedia has an approximate reach of 41 million consumers in the United States monthly, 8 million in the United Kingdom and 3.5 million in Italy.

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