Cayman Islands: Finding the high-end consumer in the United States

The Department of Tourism, in conjunction with the Cayman Islands Civil Aviation Authority, is going to be present at the large aviation show, Sun 'n Fun, in order to make a concerted effort to up the numbers of private planes visiting Cayman.  

Getting through to Cayman’s demographic is a key element of the United States-based tourism strategy.

This is achieved through a number of ways, said country manager Thomas Ludington.

“We use media to engage with customers as well as the trade, the online world helps us get to know customers, the travel agent and wholesale community continues to drive business to the island and we cultivate, motivate and educate travel agents,” he said. “Familiarization trips to Cayman are all full and we are redeveloping our website within the next 60 days. Our social media presence is growing; we intended to reach 10,000 Facebook contacts and we have 13.000.”

In order to grow numbers from the States, exposure can be exponential.

“For example, a sponsored event is not just about those who attend on the night; we identify opportunities to engage key influencers,” he said. “They will go back and keep selling the destination if we do things right.

“We need to maximise the efforts of the people on the ground; there’s a possible squash academy competition in Grand Cayman, the romance and wedding planners come for the Engage conference and there’s a possibility to bring roller hockey teams down for a tournament,” Mr. Ludington said. “If we grow events year on year people will want to come to Cayman.”

Finding the best path to the high-end consumer can be done through wholesalers and preferred relationships in order to open doors for the Cayman Islands.

“We have to be strategic with the resources we have and find creative ways to get most out of those investments,” he said. “We can speak with our wholesalers about specific co-operations where we match funds and work on tactics together. We can put specific programs together where they are comfortable buying from us and of course they are already working with consumers.”

Airline meetings

Mr. Ludington said the tourism department in the United States has engaged with a research company to produce reports that consumer spend, average stay and per captia spending are strong in certain regional source markets. This will then enable the tourism department to meet with airlines and route planners.

“We may meet with United – there is not a lot of overlap in their routes and of course they will be going where it is most profitable,” he said. “If they are looking to more Caribbean routes we want to be in that conversation and identify gateways with pent-up or under-serviced demand.

“Cayman Airways may also be able to assist – for example, the Washington, DC service proved the route was viable and other airlines picked up on it,” he said.

In addition, the Department of Tourism, in conjunction with the Cayman Islands Civil Aviation Authority, is going to be present at the large aviation show, Sun 'n Fun, in order to make a concerted effort to up the numbers of private planes visiting Cayman. The Bahamas, Mr. Ludington said, is a comparable distance from the States and captures a great deal of this sector so the opportunities are there.

Source:  http://www.compasscayman.com