Cyber adverts promote Cayman tourism

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