THE CAYMAN Islands
Department of Tourism’s UK office is spending £50,000 on a six-week Internet
advertisement campaign.
The on-line ads are on
sites that are related to leisure and travel.
All are designed to get
people thinking about the Caymans. They can then click through to a dedicated
UK site that has just gone live, where there are details of special offers to
tempt potential visitors.
Consumer advertising has
been running since the end of October, again to raise the profile of the destination
and highlight special offers.
“Our strategy has
totally changed since September 11,” said regional manager Europe Don
McDougall. “We have gone for hard-hitting specials for the winter.”
He added: “A lot of
people who were going to the Middle East and Asia have changed their plans and
are now looking to go to the Caribbean.”
McDougall said the total
cost of the campaign is about £150,000.
A new campaign, also
incorporating web advertising, will start in January and run for three months.
McDougall would not confirm the cost of that, but said it was a
“significant sum”.
One of the key messages
of the campaign is British Airways’ three-times weekly one-stop flight to the
Caymans – the service moved from Gatwick to Heathrow on October 28 and stops at
Nassau in the Bahamas, although people do not have to change aircraft.
“We believe there will be strong demand for Caribbean islands
that have direct services so people do not have to transit the US,” said
McDougall.
He added that the UK
office will also increase its activity with the trade – it already runs a
specialist agents scheme offering training and educationals.
* The new UK website is at www.uk.caymanislands.ky