The Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) has ramped up its marketing, advertising and promotional efforts across Europe with a new campaign, ahead of the new Lufthansa thrice-weekly service from Frankfurt to Bridgetown, commencing October 28, 2019.
The marketing campaign, Barbados: Welcome to the Island of Good Living, launched in Milan in May, highlighting those unique and positive elements of the Barbadian lifestyle from a plethora of events and festivals to free education and healthcare.
The campaign was first introduced to tour operators and travel journalists at an intimate food and music event held at the Food Loft in Milan, where celebrity TV chef Simone Rugiati partnered with award-winning Barbadian chef Damian Leach to demonstrate the creation of a signature Barbadian dish.
Rugiati, who has signed on as the island’s culinary partner in Italy, will develop a video series that showcases his experiences with various Barbadian chefs across the island. The series will be launched on his social networks in May, and he will return to Barbados for the Food and Rum Festival in October.
CEO of the BTMI William Billy Griffith said, “We are looking forward to a successful partnership with the Lufthansa group, which will see capacity out of Europe increasing by over 40 per cent in 2019. We are therefore making sure that we do all that we can from a marketing and promotional perspective to drive the business to Barbados.”
All of this activity comes months ahead of the new Lufthansa service to Barbados, in an effort to promote interest in and awareness of destination Barbados. With the commencement of the new flight, Barbados will be the only Caribbean island being served by the Lufthansa Group. Italians interested in visiting Barbados will be able to fly from seven cities: Milan, Bologna, Turin, Florence, Venice and Verona.
Promoting destination Barbados in Munich, Germany, to key media and travel trade partners, Griffith updated the audience on the opening of new hotels and international hotel brands such as the Hyatt Centric and IHG’s Hotel Indigo; St Nicholas Abbey’s new train; and Festive Fridays – Bridgetown Night Market. He also introduced the Vision 2020 and We Gatherin diaspora initiatives which will make major waves next year.
Also announced were some of the major upcoming projects for the German market, including the first long-haul destination workshop organised by FVW, the leading business-to-business travel trade magazine. Chief Editor Klaus Hildebrandt will travel to Barbados with a group of 35 travel experts from June 18 to 25 to discuss increasing exposure for Barbados in Germany with local and German experts. Then, in the third week of September, Barbados will host a one-week roadshow, along with hotel and tourism partners, to meet with travel agents in Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt and Cologne. (PR)
