Department of Tourism andCITA team up for 2002 Global Marketing Meetings
Tourism officialsand industry partners (L to R): Lania Rittenhouse; Dan Tibbetts;Rod McDowall; Nicole La Valette; Mark Bastis; and Pilar Bush.
Last week in New York City, the Cayman IslandsDepartment of Tourism and private sector representatives met forthe second phase of the 2002 Global Marketing Meetings.
Both the Director of Tourism and the USDirector of Sales & Marketing orchestrated an aggressive two-dayagenda on September 16th and 17th that included regional marketingupdates from the US, Canada and the UK. The sessions also includeddetailed discussions regarding dive and non-dive marketing strategies(both creative and media buying programmes), an update on DOT'sweb capabilities and future development initiatives and resultsfrom the Cayman Rewards and H2GO! programmes for 2002.
Representing the private sector were RodMcDowall, President of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association(CITA); Mark Bastis, Marketing Committee Chairman, CITA; NicoleLa Valette, General Manager of CITA; and Dan Tibbetts, SisterIslands Tourism Association (SITA) President and CITA Director.Also on hand were all US agency partners, plus representativesfrom the UK and Canada DOT offices and advertising agencies, aswell as members of the Grand Cayman marketing unit.
The meetings commenced with a welcome fromMrs. Lania Rittenhouse, Director of Tourism, who acknowledgedthe efforts of the DOT, its communications agencies and the privatesector thus far in the re-branding exercise. "Since June,remarkable progress has been made. It has been fantastic to seethe close working relationships that have developed amongst ourinternational agencies and between the Department and Ministryof Tourism and private sectors. The sharing of creative ideasand strategies will ultimately benefit the destination,"remarked Mrs. Rittenhouse.
Pilar Bush, US Director of Sales & Marketing,followed with a status update and the achievements made to-dateof the communications development timeline. "We've made greatstrides in the areas of research, media objectives and the developmentof a new marketing strategy," she commented.
Of much interest to all participants werepresentations from each country on marketing initiatives and advertisingcreative for 2003. An in-depth discussion also took place surroundingthe intense research, negotiations and development plans beingdone in the three regions with regard to the media buy whichincludes print, Internet, out of home and broadcast for 2003.
Mark Bastis remarked, "I have had theopportunity to live and work in many tourism destinations andworked with many tourism departments and councils. The concertedefforts shown during this presentation are to be commended. Iapplaud the efforts of the CIDOT on coordinating such a well thoughtout and comprehensive marketing action plan."
"I believe that the meeting was a significantand valuable step forward with all partners. We are delightedto now be a part of the actual planning process as opposed tojust the recipients of information. We are able to walk away bettereducated and informed which will allow us to better communicatethe initiatives of the DOT to the rest of private sector,"remarked Rod McDowall.
Follow-up meetings with the DOT and itsprivate sector partners are carded for October 11th in Grand Cayman,where additional creative work will be reviewed, as well as mediarecommendations for 2003.