Curaçao Tourist Board - 3rd Quarter Marketing Update

CURAÇAO TOURIST BOARD

3 QUARTER MARKETING UPDATE RD

CURAÇAO TOURIST BOARD

3RD QUARTER MARKETING UPDATE Focus The past third quarter CTB has been working diligently and focused on the implementation of the Tourism Master Plan (TMP) 2015 -2020.

Several platforms were put in motion to involve the sector with the implementation of the TMP 2015-2020 such as: 1. Democratic Dialogue 2. World Café 3. Appointment of 4 committees to spear head the implementation of the TMP 2015-2020 a. Marketing b. Beautification c. Funding d. Steering Team These platforms produced a wealth of valuable input to further define a clear direction and approach on the short term, being the remainder of 2016 and our longer term goals for 2017 and beyond. The most important achievement is how the different stakeholders worked and created matching, effective plans together.

Key Pointers Strategic Approach CTB: • We will focus our efforts on the following countries and / or regions 1. Netherlands 2. USA (new York and Miami) 3. Germany (Dusseldorf, Berlin and Bavaria) 4. Canada (Toronto and Montreal) 5. Colombia (Bogota, Medellin and Barranquilla)

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CTB introduces its Quarterly Marketing Update to better inform our main Tourism industry partners. It serves to insure that you remain duly updated on the handful of actions being executed in our main source markets of focus.

We aim to distribute an Update on every 15th of a quarter, covering Marketing, PR and Sales actions, plus any upcoming activities for the quarter ahead of us.

• We will further research the approach and market potential for the following countries 1. Canada 2. Colombia • We will research on how to proceed with Brazil and Venezuela and also the effects of Cuba opening up • We will be defining our personas for the different markets • We will focus all our efforts on branding and awareness • We will be more data driven • We will focus on the higher income and the higher education consumer

CURAÇAO TOURIST BOARD

3RD QUARTER MARKETING UPDATE Current Status Tourism Master Plan implementation: The primary objective of the TMP workgroup is to ensure a coherent, cooperative and coordinated private public sector execution of the plan. Mr. Vincent Vanderpool Wallace is appointed as the project leader. The Steering Committee is responsible for the strategic oversight of the implementation of the TMP. • Marketing and Airlift Committee: a) the committee selected the advertising agency Catch (based in New York) in support of the North American market. b) “Right Now in Curaçao” campaign was launched mid-August*. c) Germany was added to the TMP. • Beautification Committee: Beautiful People campaign will start shortly. The campaign reflects the recommendation of the TMP that the people of Curaçao are our most valuable asset in defining and differentiating Curaçao within the Caribbean. Campaign components on island will also feature the recent comments about Curaçao from visitors’ social media comments.

• Funding Committee: the committee has submitted a proposal to the Government for the funds required for full execution of the plan. CTB is pending confirmation of the actual amount to be invested in both Marketing and Beautification on a short and long term.

“Right Now in Curaçao” aims to differentiate Curaçao from competing destinations, engage and connect with our key target audience, increase visibility of Curaçao, encourage travelers to the island to embrace the #RightNowInCuraçao program by generating organic content through social channels.

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UPDATE

EUROPEAN MARKET Q3 RECAP EUROPE Q3 activities in the European markets reflect primarily co-op plans in place as committed for the year with main partners in market. In addition the European team has been working on the Q4 campaign and road show to be launched October and November 2016 tying in the “Right Now in Curaçao” campaign elements but geared to the Dutch target audience.

The Netherlands For the Netherlands during the 3rd quarter of the year the focus was mainly on sales activation.

Main actions and activities were executed as per the year round co-op plans in collaboration with KLM, TUI, Corendon and Kras. Supplementing PR communications reflected upcoming music, culinary and sports events such as Strongmen competition, KLM Marathon, the MCB Golf Tournament, Flavors and Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival.

To support the awareness and usage of the online ED Card, a dedicated team was placed at Schiphol airport to facilitate passengers travelling to Curaçao in filling out the ED Card online.

Germany In Germany main marketing activities were executed as per the co-op plan with AirBerlin.

Meanwhile CTB sourced a marketing agency thru an agency pitch in order to identify a matching partner to roll out an adaption of the “Right Now in Curaçao” campaign in the German market during the 4th quarter of this year. PR activities and topics were aligned as with the Dutch market with an emphasis on upcoming sports, culinary and music events.

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UPDATE

EUROPEAN MARKET BRANDING & CO-OP ADS • THE NETHERLANDS

BON BINI CURAÇAO Curaçao, Willemstad - Htl. The Ritz Studios3 9 dagen logies Per persoon al vanaf

599∏

Vraag binnen naar de volledige voorwaarden.

PR HIGHLIGHTS • THE NETHERLANDS Through Public Relations throughout the third quarter of 2016, we have been successful in marking 5 million impressions which translates in a media value of 1.1 million dollars, through destination features on TV, Print, Radio, Online and Social!

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UPDATE

EUROPEAN MARKET

Curaçao awarded with a Golden Zoover Award ... Destination with the best accommodation…

For more information about Zoover Awards visit www.zooverawards.nl

BRANDING & CO-OP ADS • GERMANY

PR HIGHLIGHTS • GERMANY Through Public Relations throughout the third quarter of 2016, we have been successful in marking 400+ million impressions which translates in a media value of 2.7 million dollars, through destination features on TV, Print, Radio, Online and Social!

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UPDATE

EUROPEAN MARKET

ACTIVATIONS • EUROPE

Interdive Fair (Germany) 15 - 18 September

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UPDATE

EUROPEAN MARKET

UPCOMING ACTIONS • EUROPE Q4 Netherlands Date

Action

October 22-23

VerreReizenFair

October 22–November 1

Tour Batido Truck

October 24 – November 1

Roadshow “Right Now In Curaçao”

October 26 – November 2

Individual Press Focus on foodies

November 6

Vakantiebeurs Noord Holland

November 16-20

ANVR Congress (Curaçao)

November 23-28

KLM Curaçao Marathon fam trip (Curaçao)

November 23-30

Group Press trip Active + Culinary

November 26–December 2

Individual Press Beautygloss Curaçao

December 18

Vakantiebeurs Breda

Monthly

Monthly Newsletters

Monthly

Monthly Press release

November/ December

Branding Campaign launch ‘Right Now In Curaçao’

Germany

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Date

Action

Monthly

Monthly Newsletters

Monthly

Monthly Press release

October 18-25

Individual Press Myway

November 1-8

Group Press trip Culinary, Art & Relaxation

November/ December

Branding Campaign launch ‘Right Now In Curaçao’

UPDATE

SOUTH AMERICAN MARKET Q3 RECAP SOUTH AMERICAN MARKET Overall third quarter activities mainly focused on gaining PR awareness for key events such as the 7th edition of the Curaçao North Sea jazz Festival. In addition emphasis was placed on the introduction of the online ED card, particularly aiming to educate our trade and airlift partners to help us spread the word.

Brazil In the Brazilian market main marketing activities were executed in collaboration with key partners in market thru co-op plans with Copa Airlines, Avianca, CVC and Flytour. In addition in market representatives provided sales educational sessions to travel agents in Sao Paulo. PR communications reflected upcoming events in Curaçao as well as the introduction of the online ED card.

Venezuela Given the political and economic constraints in Venezuela and thus the reduction in overall budget for 2016 most activities were executed in collaboration with main partners in market such as Corporacion Salta and Avior Airlines. While promoting packages to push summer vacations in august and the festival beginning of September, emphasis was placed on attracting the higher tier of the market to target the Venezuelans with a higher disposable income.

Colombia Third quarter activities in Colombia featured co-ops with Avianca and Copa Airlines and generic branding activities primarily online and sales packages in print. In addition CTB Colombia hosted a consumer event in Baranquilla. This cultural and Culinary exchange was executed in collaboration with Munditur and Insel Air with internationally renowned Chef Broertje Marshall and Curaçao’s cuisine in the spotlight. PR activities focused on events on island including the Preventive Medicine Conference 24 & 25 October.

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UPDATE

SOUTH AMERICAN MARKET BRANDING • VENEZUELA

ACTIVATIONS • VENEZUELA

Evento Vacaciones 2016 Corporación Salta

CO-OP CAMPAIGNS • VENEZUELA

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UPDATE

SOUTH AMERICAN MARKET PR HIGHLIGHTS • VENEZUELA

PR North Sea Jazz Festival Vitrina Turística

UPCOMING ACTIONS Q4 • VENEZUELA Date

Action

Date

Action

November 1

TO & TA Workshop Valencia

Ongoing

Online ED Card PR Boost

Ongoing

Media & Magazines Ads

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UPDATE

SOUTH AMERICAN MARKET BRANDING & CO-OP ADS • COLOMBIA

PR HIGHLIGHTS • COLOMBIA Through Public Relations throughout the third quarter of 2016, we have been successful in marking 3.745.000 impressions which translates in a media value of 346.301 dollars, through destination features on TV, Print, Radio, Online and Social!

Sabor Barranquilla Fair

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UPDATE

SOUTH AMERICAN MARKET ACTIVATIONS • COLOMBIA

UPCOMING ACTIONS Q4 • COLOMBIA Date

Action

Date

Action

October 20 - 27

Photo shoot Maxim Magazine with Paulina Vega (2014 Miss Universe)

November 1 to 4

Press Trip Caracol TV and RCN TV

November

Launch “Right Now in Curaçao”

November & December

Co-op Avianca TV spot on Cable TV

December

Despegar.com campaign

October 26, November

TA Workshops

October, November, December

Online ED Card PR Boost

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UPDATE

SOUTH AMERICAN MARKET BRANDING • BRAZIL

CO-OP CAMPAIGNS • BRAZIL

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UPDATE

SOUTH AMERICAN MARKET PR HIGHLIGHTS • BRAZIL Through Public Relations throughout the third quarter of 2016, we have been successful in marking 119.100 impressions which translates in a media value of 156.000 dollars, through destination features on TV, Print, Radio, Online and Social!

UPCOMING ACTIONS Q4 • BRAZIL Date

Action

November, December

Implementation “Right Now In Curaçao”

October, November, December

Online ED Card PR Boost

October 20 - 25

Mega Fam Trip 40 TA’s from Alianca (union) with Avianca

October 29 - November 3

Mega Fam Trip 50 TA’s from the major TO’s with Copa

November 8

Curaçao Appreciation Award – CTB/Curaçao is giving an appreciation award to all partner that worked with Curaçao during 2016. This award, goes to airlines, Tour Operators, Media, trade partners etc.

November 8 will be the date that we will present the award during an event in Sao Paulo. It will be covered by most trade and consumer media e.g. the Amaury Jr. Show and therefore we expect to receive good PR exposure from this event.

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UPDATE

NORTH AMERICAN MARKET Q3 RECAP NORTH AMERICAN MARKET For the United States market, the “Right Now in Curaçao” branding campaign was launched in Q3 on various media platforms. The execution of the campaign concentrates in New York, highlighting unique selling points of Curaçao along with clever tag-lines. To kick start the campaign Curaçao impressed New Yorkers in the high-traffic areas of Flatiron district and Union Square with a colorful “Batido Truck”. This effort was made possible by the Curaçao Tourist Board, the Curaçao Airport Partners and 9 hotels last month.

New Yorkers enjoyed a fruit batido and learned about Curaçao, interact with the hoteliers and won multiple trips to the island. The campaign’s media mix further includes features on AFAR Magazine’s online and social outlets, at JFK Airport terminal 5, in main New York Subway, Metro North Railroad and Long Island Railroad stations as well as an extensive online program through the most visited sites of New York for travel, entertainment and news.

In addition, CTB also launched in Q3 a co-op campaign with JetBlue and JetBlue Getaways, to target the traditionally soft months of the Fall / early winter. This program, in partnership with the Curaçao Airport Holding also supports the 3rd additional flight of JetBlue from JFK, starting Nov 3.

Other Wholesale co-ops in North America are in full execution, such as with American Airlines Vacations, Expedia, Travel Impressions, CheapCaribbean, Apple Vacations and Air Canada Vacations.

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UPDATE

NORTH AMERICAN MARKET BRANDING • USA

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UPDATE

NORTH AMERICAN MARKET CO-OP ADS • USA

CO-OP ADS • CANADA

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UPDATE

NORTH AMERICAN MARKET PR HIGHLIGHTS • USA Through Public Relations throughout the third quarter of 2016, we have been successful in marking 85+ million impressions which translates in a media value of over $5.9 million dollars, through destination features on TV, Print, Radio, Online and Social!

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UPDATE

NORTH AMERICAN MARKET ACTIVATIONS • USA

UPCOMING ACTIONS Q4 • NORTH AMERICA USA Date

Action Marketing campaign Q4

October 15-21

Summer Fall Promotion with Radio 103.9 NYC

October 26-29

VIP MICE FAM in coordination with Business Serenity & Santa Barbara Resort

October

4th Quarter What’s New In Curaçao Release

November 2-4

New York City Roadshow/ Curaçao Influencer Exhibit

November 4-8

Cruise Planner Travel Agent Convention

November 16-19

DEMA Show 2016

Continuation

“Right Now in Curaçao” Branding Campaign

CANADA Date

Action Marketing campaign Q4

October 16-21

Canada Roadshow

October

4th Quarter What’s New In Curaçao Release

October

Air Canada Vacations Fall 2016 Co-op Plan

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UPDATE

CARIBBEAN MARKET Q3 RECAP CARIBBEAN MARKET Our third quarter activities in Aruba and Suriname concentrated primarily on the promotion of the many events and activities throughout the year with a particular focus on the promotion of the Curaรงao North Sea Jazz festival. When promoting these activities in Aruba we engage in a lot of PR exposure through Radio, print and TV. In Suriname we apply a media mix of Billboards, Radio, TV and local trade supported by PR events.

CO-OP ADS โ ข ARUBA

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UPDATE

CARIBBEAN MARKET

PR HIGHLIGHTS • ARUBA

BRANDING • SURINAME

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UPDATE

CARIBBEAN MARKET

PR HIGHLIGHTS • SURINAM The 7th edition of CNSJF promoted in Surinam The Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) together with the CNSJF promo team visited Suriname to present the line-up for the upcoming festival to the media, travel agents and invited guests. The enthusiasm was felt even before the promo team arrived, press members posted on social media and shared updates while pending for the press conference.

CTB and Fundashon Bon Intenshon (FBI) were joined by Miss Curaçao, Kanisha Sluis for the media tour which included several visits to radio and television stations. Following the media tour, press members were invited for the official presentation at Don Julio’s Bar Bistro. About 150 people including press, travel agencies, tour operators and airlines representatives visited the Meet & Greet. Some of the greatest artists in their musical genre will perform in this year’s event including Juan Luis Guerra, Kassav, Lenny Kravitz, Tom Jones, J. Balvin, Chris Brown and many more. CTB and FBI raffled 4 complete packages to the festival during a ‘Curaçao-Trivia’. Two press members were the lucky winners of 1 package each, while 2 visiting guests won the other 2 packages.

CTB was joined by City Suites Curaçao, Papagayo Hotel & Resort and Scooby Tours for this promo visit. Suriname is amongst the top three countries visiting the annual CNSJF.

UPCOMING ACTIONS Q4 • SURINAM Date

Action

November 2016

Thank You Party for recognized travel agents and press members

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WHAT IS...

TRENDING?

Booking sites will cost more.

Airlines, hotels, and other travel companies have been battling it out with online travel agencies such as Expedia and Booking.com— and travelers could be both winners and losers. The OTAs charge travel companies big commissions for bookings and also saddle them with the cost of providing data about flights, rooms, and cars. Which is why you will start finding the cheapest fares and rates on the hotels’ and airlines’ own sites.

Culinary Travel.

This trend is not new for 2017, rather a trend from recent years that continues to flourish, especially in the destinations we serve. Take Costa Rica, for example, where more chefs/restaurants at top-rated lodges, as well as in/around the capital of San Jose are sourcing local and sustainable ingredients, and elevating Costa Rican ingredients and flavors to incredible new heights.

Travel that’s good for people and planet.

Travelers increasingly seek vacations that are not only fun and relaxing, but contribute to conservation of culture, nature, and wildlife too, through genuine interactions with local people or visiting and supporting worthwhile projects.

Collect Memories To ensure travellers collect as many experiences as possible their travel frequency increases, while the length of stay decreases and last minute travel sees a spike.

Travelers want deeper experiences (inspiration, personalization, self-discovery, community based experiences, enrichment, etc). Travel innovation is not just tech.

Video is the new language of brand communication. Traditional Travel Agents are fighting back and reinventing travel.

Unusual travel brands in the making: Google Travel, Amazon Destinations, Tripadvisor, others.More travel mergers and company buy-outs on its way. Spontaneous travel is on the rise.

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DIGITAL &

SOCIAL ANALYSIS

While we had a steady fan growth and fans reach (mainly due to heavy CNSJF paid ads) in the 3rd

quarter, the engagement rate was -37% compared to the 2nd quarter. This is due to the fact that in the 2nd quater we published the Willemstad Historic videos, (World Heritage and Rhythms and Traditions) and these created many engagements (likes, shares and comments).

For curaçao.com we had a total of 350+K visitors to Curaçao.com (Fig. 1) with a peak around August 17. This peak can be accredited to the Facebook ED card post, that referred back to the website’s page (Fig. 2).

Most visitors spent about 2.5 minutes on the site surfing viewing on average 3 pages per visit.

Fig. 1

Thankfully direct traffic and search engines remained as our main source of traffic source (Fig.3). In the last quarter of 2016 we anticipate to see an increase in social referral to curaçao.com with the implementation of Press Page in early October and the launch of ‘Right Now In Curaçao’.

Fig. 3

Fig. 2

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