C'bbean Tourism Development Company launched

The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) have launched the Caribbean Tourism Development Company (CTDC), a private, for profit entity registered in The Cayman Islands and designed to generate marketing to further support the promotion of the region.

Photo by Janet Silvera - From left: president of the Caribbean Hotel Association, Peter Odle; chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Senator the Hon. Allen Chastenet; Patricio Rubicana of American Express and secretary general of the CTO, with Vincent Vanderpool Wallace addressing the closing press conference of Caribbean Marketplace in Aruba last week.

CTDC evolved out of the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation signed by CTO and CHA in October 2005. The new entity is jointly owned and operated by CTO and CHA and each organisation will have a 50 per cent share in the company.

goals

The goals of the new company include:

Promotion and protection of the Caribbean brand

Promotion and protection of the interests of the owners

Creation of synergies, which might not otherwise go to the partners

To generate revenues for the benefit of the Caribbean people.

The creation and launch of the CTDC has been approved by the respective boards of directors of the CTO and CHA.

The CTDC board of directors will include co-chairman consisting of the president of CHA and the chairman of CTO, the 1st vice-president and 1st vice-chairman of the respective organisations and the marketing directors of these organisations as well as the secretary general and CEO of CTO and the director general and CEO of CHA and the chairman of the CHA marketing committee.

CTDC will be responsible for a variety of projects which are marketing focused and as well as event-oriented.

The first board meeting took place during Caribbean Marketplace 2007 in Aruba where the CTDC board approved the naming of Caribbean Travel & Life as the Official Consumer Magazine of the Caribbean. Details of the agreement between CTDC and Caribbean Travel & Life will be announced shortly.

Earlier, the CHA board of directors approved moving the Caribbean Gold Book under the new CTDC and rebranding it as CaribbeanTravel.com.

Other examples of results from the creation of the CTDC will be the launching of a series of newspaper advertorial sections across North America to promote the region.

Merchandising

Merchandising of the Caribbean brand and logos will be reviewed by the board as the new Caribbean logo was created as a collaborative effort of CHA and CTO affiliates on both sides of the Atlantic.

A new Caribbean website will be launched in 2007 and the creation of a series of media bulk-purchasing agreements will help members of both organisations reach greater economies of scale and enable both the private and public sector entities to launch expanded advertising and marketing campaigns.

The CTDC will also oversee the cooperative efforts at consumer travel shows such as the upcoming New York Times Travel Show in February in which the Caribbean will bring together the largest single pavilion for any region under the new Caribbean banner and the popular Caribbean Week in New York.

Other events such as music festivals, a Caribbean beauty pageant and a Caribbean fashion show are among the long range plans. In addition, the CTDC will be looking at a co-branded affinity credit card under the Caribbean banner.