FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BARBADOS TOURISM SECTOR RECORDS DOUBLE DIGIT GROWTH ~ Local tourism expanded by 15.1 per cent during Q1 2015, the highest performance in any comparative period in 25 years ~ BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS. May 27, 2015 Barbados tourism sector broke a 25- year record during the first quarter of 2015 to reach 171,471 long stay arrivals. BTMI Chairman, Alvin Jemmott, noted that there were record arrivals in each of the first three months of 2015 and extended his congratulations to all industry workers and partners for their steadfast efforts on behalf of the destination. This was a very strong winter season. The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) has predicted a five per cent increase in long stay arrivals for the region for the entire year and we believe our performance in this first quarter bodes well for us to comfortably exceed that target. Jemmott attributed this milestone performance to a number of factors including increased airlift capacity negotiated by the BTMI; healthy economic conditions in key markets, a commitment to developing new source markets, Barbados strong reputation among its global partners and the agency s solid promotional strategies for reaching the travel trade, media and consumers in each market. CEO, William Griffith, revealed that a comprehensive review effort has begun to ensure that the BTMI s policies support their new mandate as a private entity.
I am pleased to say that we have begun the process of updating a number of critical polices in the areas of human resources, marketing and finance in keeping with our commitment to increasing employee engagement and productivity; maximizing our return on marketing investment, and achieving greater levels of fiscal prudence. In line with these changes, a comprehensive marketing plan featuring traditional and digital marketing programmes has also been developed to guide the organization in resource allocation and monitoring of its various marketing programmes. Griffith broke down the performance by market, which showed that arrivals from the UK, USA, Canada, and Caribbean and Latin American grew by 12.9 per cent, 27.7 per cent, 28.4 per cent and 10.6 per cent, respectively. Germany also grew by 23.6 per cent. These strong performances, including a 17.7 per cent rise in arrivals from Other CARICOM, overshadowed the 2.4 per cent decline in the Trinidad and Tobago market and the dip in arrivals from Other Europe by 27.3 percent. While the cruise sector declined by 6.1 per cent to 217,139 passengers, there was a welcomed increase in home porting, which sees ships purchases goods and services from local dairy, retail and other suppliers. There is also a trend being observed with smaller ships being replaced by larger vessels, some with the capacity to carry of over 4,000 passengers. Griffith added that the island s total airlift capacity for the May 1 October 31, 2015 summer period was set to rise by 3.6 per cent, largely driven by additional flights and the use of larger aircraft by the island s airline partners. The BTMI CEO went on to project a successful summer period for the island, banking on the fact that there is increasing alignment between our internal operations and structure, and our global strategic marketing efforts. - ENDS - 2
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BTMI PRESSES FORWARD WITH ITS DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY ~ Barbados travel messages reach millions of social media users via mobile and desktop ~ BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS. May 27, 2015 A global strategic plan for social media enabled Barbados to market the destination to more than 10 million online followers. As at May 21, 2015 Barbados had in excess of 191,000 Facebook followers, 31,200 Twitter followers and 6,200 followers on Instagram. Social media is very dynamic and works well in demonstrating all that is authentic about vacationing in Barbados. It is also highly measurable and thus fits in with our commitment to establishing clear performance indicators on our marketing programmes. said director marketing, Robert Chase. A soon to be appointed digital marketing manager will see their role focused on content marketing strategies and systems to govern the BTMI s content development, community management and digital analytics efforts. During the first quarter of 2015, the BTMI ran a number of social media campaigns. The Brilliant Barbados digital ads resulted in the Visit Barbados Facebook page growing by 35 per cent to 191,000, while @Barbados on Twitter increased by seven per cent to 31,000. In total the combined Barbados social audience grew by over 57,000 over the eight-week campaign period. In addition there was a contest around Rihanna s coverage in Cosmopolitan Magazine that generated 10 million impressions. BTMI s content marketing strategy effectively keep marketing costs down and fostered brand authenticity by curating royalty-free photos and videos from local photographers and videographers, as well as repurposing content developed at different stages in the life cycle of differing local events and marketing campaigns for social. Barbados social media activity also continues to promote upcoming events, special airfares and other programmes to increase audience engagement. We have yet to fully explore the power of new media advertising to reach targeted audiences with our travel offers. The extent to which we divide our marketing budget across traditional and new media channels will be an important factor in our digital marketing strategy over the short term. Chase stated. Chase added that the organization was engaged in the delivery of a new VisitBarbados.org website before the end of the current fiscal period. - ENDS -
March 2015 Statistics
FIGURE 1: TOURIST ARRIVALS BY MAJOR MARKETS FOR THE YEARS 2013, 2014, 2015
FIGURE 2: MARKET SHARE MAJOR MARKETS 2015
FIGURE 3: TOURIST ARRIVALS BY MAJOR MARKETS & CRUISE PASSENGER ARRIVALS JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH MAJOR MARKETS 2013 2014 2015 AB CHG % CHG MAJOR MARKETS 2013 2014 2015 AB CHG % CHG MAJOR MARKETS 2013 2014 2015 AB CHG % CHG UNITED STATES 9550 9515 10802 1287 13.5 UNITED STATES 10158 9893 12571 2678 27.1 UNITED STATES 12278 9943 14119 4176 42.0 CANADA 8295 8340 10596 2256 27.1 CANADA 9495 7943 10774 2831 35.6 CANADA 9088 7820 9567 1747 22.3 UNITED KINGDOM 17029 18565 21365 2800 15.1 UNITED KINGDOM 17249 18807 22291 3484 18.5 UNITED KINGDOM 19005 20010 21139 1129 5.6 GERMANY 1268 1415 1738 323 22.8 GERMANY 1231 1268 1628 360 28.4 GERMANY 1353 1552 1870 318 20.5 OTHER EUROPE 4461 4672 3503-1169 -25.0 OTHER EUROPE 3684 4054 3005-1049 -25.9 OTHER EUROPE 2409 3308 2245-1063 -32.1 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 1785 1746 1539-207 -11.9 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 2293 1452 1842 390 26.9 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 2938 2309 1995-314 -13.6 OTHER CARICOM 4094 3879 4393 514 13.3 OTHER CARICOM 3268 3175 3675 500 15.7 OTHER CARICOM 4196 3561 4427 866 24.3 BRAZIL 558 527 632 105 19.9 BRAZIL 445 259 490 231 89.2 BRAZIL 326 445 240-205 -46.1 OTH CBEAN & L&S AMER 709 768 785 17 2.2 OTH CBEAN & L&S AMER 843 708 838 130 18.4 OTH CBEAN & L&S AMER 1085 965 1033 68 7.0 OTHER 679 777 856 79 10.2 OTHER 530 616 701 85 13.8 OTHER 744 721 812 91 12.6 TOTAL ARRIVALS 48428 50204 56209 6005 12.0 TOTAL ARRIVALS 49196 48175 57815 9640 20.0 TOTAL ARRIVALS 53422 50634 57447 6813 13.5 TOTAL CRUISE PAX 93132 83944 78239-5705 -6.8 TOTAL CRUISE PAX 74833 77867 68281-9586 -12.3 TOTAL CRUISE PAX 82926 69333 70619 1286 1.9 TOTAL CRUISE CALLS 64 61 66 5 8.2 TOTAL CRUISE CALLS 60 59 57-2 -3.4 TOTAL CRUISE CALLS 65 70 59-11 -15.7 JANUARY TO FEBRUARY JANUARY TO MARCH MAJOR MARKETS 2013 2014 2015 AB CHG % CHG MAJOR MARKETS 2013 2014 2015 AB CHG % CHG UNITED STATES 19708 19408 23373 3965 20.4 UNITED STATES 31986 29351 37492 8141 27.7 CANADA 17790 16283 21370 5087 31.2 CANADA 26878 24103 30937 6834 28.4 UNITED KINGDOM 34278 37372 43656 6284 16.8 UNITED KINGDOM 53283 57382 64795 7413 12.9 GERMANY 2499 2683 3366 683 25.5 GERMANY 3852 4235 5236 1001 23.6 OTHER EUROPE 8145 8726 6508-2218 -25.4 OTHER EUROPE 10554 12034 8753-3281 -27.3 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 4078 3198 3381 183 5.7 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 7016 5507 5376-131 -2.4 OTHER CARICOM 7362 7054 8068 1014 14.4 OTHER CARICOM 11558 10615 12495 1880 17.7 BRAZIL 1003 786 1122 336 42.7 BRAZIL 1329 1231 1362 131 10.6 OTH CBEAN & L&S AMER 1552 1476 1623 147 10.0 OTH CBEAN & L&S AMER 2637 2441 2656 215 8.8 OTHER 1209 1393 1557 164 11.8 OTHER 1953 2114 2369 255 12.1 TOTAL ARRIVALS 97624 98379 114024 15645 15.9 TOTAL ARRIVALS 151046 149013 171471 22458 15.1 TOTAL CRUISE PAX 167965 161811 146520-15291 -9.4 TOTAL CRUISE PAX 250891 231144 217139-14005 -6.1 TOTAL CRUISE CALLS 124 120 123 3 2.5 TOTAL CRUISE CALLS 189 190 182-8 -4.2
FIGURE 4: TOURIST ARRIVALS BY RESIDENCE TOURIST ARRIVALS BY RESIDENCE MARCH 2014 AND 2015 COMPARED RESIDENCE Mar-14 Mar-15 AB CHG % CHG RESIDENCE Mar-14 Mar-15 AB CHG % CHG RESIDENCE Mar-14 Mar-15 AB CHG % CHG ALBANIA 0 2 2 - GUERNSEY 22 24 2 9.1 PERU 13 5-8 -61.5 ANGUILLA 32 16-16 -50.0 GUYANA 611 793 182 29.8 PHILIPPINE 50 102 52 104.0 ANTIGUA 274 387 113 41.2 HAITI 19 13-6 -31.6 POLAND 59 81 22 37.3 ARGENTINA 40 26-14 -35.0 HONDURAS 4 2-2 -50.0 PORTUGAL 24 12-12 -50.0 ARMENIA 0 2 2 - HONG KONG 4 8 4 100.0 QATAR 1 0-1 -100.0 ARUBA 7 3-4 -57.1 HUNGARY 39 32-7 -17.9 ROMANIA 26 17-9 -34.6 AUSTRALIA 137 166 29 21.2 ICELAND 5 7 2 40.0 RUSSIA 122 68-54 -44.3 AUSTRIA 170 121-49 -28.8 INDIA 116 98-18 -15.5 S AFRICA 42 75 33 78.6 B.V.I. 75 83 8 10.7 INDONESIA 10 15 5 50.0 S KOREA 7 9 2 28.6 BAHAMAS 72 65-7 -9.7 IRAN 1 2 1 100.0 SALVADOR 51 2-49 -96.1 BANGLADESH 3 6 3 100.0 IRELAND 363 362-1 -0.3 SAMOA 0 1 1 - BELARUS 11 1-10 -90.9 ISRAEL 24 17-7 -29.2 SAUDI ARAB 2 1-1 -50.0 BELGIUM 38 41 3 7.9 ITALY 338 309-29 -8.6 SERBIA 7 7 0 0.0 BELIZE 42 34-8 -19.0 JAMAICA 552 678 126 22.8 SEYCHELLES 1 2 1 100.0 BERMUDA 103 74-29 -28.2 JAPAN 50 43-7 -14.0 SIERRA LEO 1 0-1 -100.0 BOLIVIA 0 2 2 - JERSEY 35 46 11 31.4 SINGAPORE 3 8 5 166.7 BOSNIA 1 1 0 0.0 JOHNSTON 1 0-1 -100.0 SLOVAKIA 42 58 16 38.1 BOTSWANA 1 1 0 0.0 JORDAN 1 0-1 -100.0 SLOVENIA 23 12-11 -47.8 BRAZIL 445 240-205 -46.1 KAZAKHSTAN 1 3 2 200.0 SPAIN 106 124 18 17.0 BULGARIA 14 29 15 107.1 KENYA 4 1-3 -75.0 SRI LANKA 5 2-3 -60.0 BURKIN FAS 1 0-1 -100.0 KIRIBATI 0 1 1 - ST KITTS 232 269 37 15.9 C AFRICA 0 1 1 - KUWAIT 6 2-4 -66.7 ST LUCIA 487 663 176 36.1 CAMEROON 2 1-1 -50.0 LATVIA 10 26 16 160.0 ST MAARTEN 4 6 2 50.0 CANADA 7820 9567 1747 22.3 LEBANON 3 2-1 -33.3 ST VINCENT 597 745 148 24.8 CAPE VERDE 2 0-2 -100.0 LESOTHO 0 1 1 - SURINAME 48 37-11 -22.9 CAYMAN ISL 26 42 16 61.5 LIECHTEN 0 2 2 - SWEDEN 812 176-636 -78.3 CHILE 14 10-4 -28.6 LITHUANIA 16 13-3 -18.8 SWITZ 249 265 16 6.4 CHINA 53 35-18 -34.0 LUXEMBOURG 11 7-4 -36.4 SYRIA 1 1 0 0.0 COLOMBIA 54 38-16 -29.6 MACEDONIA 0 2 2 - TANZANIA 2 0-2 -100.0 COSTA RICA 25 12-13 -52.0 MALAWI 0 1 1 - THAILAND 2 0-2 -100.0 CROATIA 16 14-2 -12.5 MALAYSIA 4 1-3 -75.0 TONGO 0 1 1 - CUBA 38 5-33 -86.8 MALTA 2 6 4 200.0 TRANSKEI 2 0-2 -100.0 CURACAO 6 8 2 33.3 MARTINIQUE 65 64-1 -1.5 TRINIDAD 2309 1995-314 -13.6 CYPRUS 5 4-1 -20.0 MAURITIUS 4 1-3 -75.0 TRISTAN 2 0-2 -100.0 CZECH 69 34-35 -50.7 MEXICO 50 51 1 2.0 TUNISIA 7 0-7 -100.0 DENMARK 170 72-98 -57.6 MOLDOVA 0 1 1 - TURKEY 9 7-2 -22.2 DOMIN REP 39 53 14 35.9 MONACO 5 20 15 300.0 TURKMENISN 1 3 2 200.0 DOMINICA 338 322-16 -4.7 MONTENEGRO 3 0-3 -100.0 TURKS 10 6-4 -40.0 ECUADOR 1 1 0 0.0 MONTSERRAT 12 16 4 33.3 UGANDA 2 0-2 -100.0 EGYPT 3 0-3 -100.0 MOROCCO 0 1 1 - UK 19590 20707 1117 5.7 ESTONIA 34 11-23 -67.6 MOZAMBIQUE 0 1 1 - UKRAINE 26 20-6 -23.1 FIJI 0 1 1 - N ZEALAND 40 50 10 25.0 UN ARAB EM 12 11-1 -8.3 FINLAND 256 29-227 -88.7 NAMIBIA 0 2 2 - UN ORG 26 18-8 -30.8 FR GUIANA 3 2-1 -33.3 NEPAL 2 3 1 50.0 UNITED 0 1 1 - FRANCE 343 323-20 -5.8 NETH ANTIL 206 180-26 -12.6 UNKNOWN 0 1 1 - FRENCH W.I 3 6 3 100.0 NETHERLAND 12 33 21 175.0 UNSPECIF D 8 6-2 -25.0 GEORGIA 0 1 1 - NEVIS 0 1 1 - URUGUAY 4 1-3 -75.0 GERMANY 1552 1870 318 20.5 NICARAGUA 8 5-3 -37.5 US VIRGINS 21 54 33 157.1 GHANA 3 3 0 0.0 NIGERIA 34 43 9 26.5 USA 9943 14119 4176 42.0 GIBRALTAR 6 3-3 -50.0 NORWAY 60 109 49 81.7 VENEZUELA 118 271 153 129.7 GREECE 17 13-4 -23.5 OMAN 0 2 2 - VIETNAM 0 1 1 - GRENADA 277 405 128 46.2 P RICO 35 47 12 34.3 ZAMBIA 3 4 1 33.3 GUADELOUPE 16 53 37 231.3 PAKISTAN 4 9 5 125.0 ZIMBABWE 6 14 8 133.3 GUAM 0 3 3 - PANAMA 42 41-1 -2.4 GUATEMALA 23 19-4 -17.4 PARAGUAY 2 1-1 -50.0 TOTAL 50634 57447 6813 13.5
MEDIA CONTACT: Christal P. Austin Tel: 1 246 243 4307 prmanager@lyricallavapr.com 2