Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe said given the success of a New York City marketing campaign launched more than a year ago, his ministry has decided to expand its focus on more of the North American market, and will officially launch a similar campaign in Canada by mid October.
With The Bahamas welcoming over five million visitors to its shores for two consecutive years, much of that success is believed to be due to an aggressive campaign being run by the ministry in subway stations in New York.
Expectations are high for the Canadian campaign.
According to the minister, evidence of the campaign is already visible in Canada.
"Canada now has wrapped their public [transport] vehicles in [paraphernalia of] The Bahamas," Minister Wilchcombe said. "If you travel in Canadian cities like Toronto and other places you would be able to see that."
The minister said he plans to travel to Canada with a delegation on October 15 for the launch.
He said the plan is to show Canadians that "we want their market; we want their business."
"We are proud of what is happening now and I think that we will be announcing very soon new airlift coming to The Bahamas from Canada," Minister Wilchcombe said.
He said expanding the focus on additional markets would help The Bahamas maintain its competitive edge.
The Ministry of Tourism intends to continue its New York campaign.
The New York ads encourage New Yorkers to "Escape Everyday Life" by visiting the islands of The Bahamas. The ads give demonstrations on how to fly-fish, rest in a hammock and golf while in the subterranean world of the New York City subway system.
Since the launch of the tourism marketing campaign in New York City, The Bahamas has won a number of awards for creativity.
The minister credits The Bahamasﾒ present success in visitor arrivals to a team of "innovative individuals" in his ministry, who "think out of the box" when it comes to marketing the country.
"To be a leader you have to stay out front and Iﾒm so pleased that I have a great team who is always working and thinking to continue holding our lead," Minister Wilchcombe said. "The traditional ways are not working anymore so we have gone outside the box.
"You need more than just the television, radio or newspaper ads. You need to understand that you are now on the web; you need to understand now that you need to go out and cause these visual stimulations through billboards. So what we have been able to do is use services that are used by large numbers of consumers to get our message out, and it has been very effective."
Minister Wilchcombe said other tourism destinations are following The Bahamasﾒ lead in its approach to marketing and he said his ministry would continue its efforts to expand existing campaigns.
By: Stephen Gay, The Bahama Journal
