Competitive Visibility in the Global Market
Web 2.0, Social Networking & Interactive Content for Destiantions

With global competition from destinations such as Las Vegas, Orlando, Dubai or anywhere with a beach, Tourist Boards can no longer stay competitive by simply creating databases of accommodations, attractions, restaurants and transportation options. Destinations have to ensure that they don't suffer from 'second-choice syndrome' or simply fall off the international tourism map.

Caribbean Consulting uses proven methodology to help Tourist Boards compete in today’s global market by challenging management and staff to 'think like consumers' and present their destination as a world-class product that travelers want to buy:

Promise Unique Experiences: Don't just rely on 'generic scenery' for results.
Caribbean Consulting helps present destinations as a unique, competitive experience rather than just promising "palm trees & beaches' like the competition. Increasingly sophisticated travel consumers want to purchase a unique and attractive travel product that meets their personal style and needs.

Caribbean Consulting helps you emphasize what your destination does better than anyone else and then reach target markets ready to make travel arrangements.  Finally, we use concepts of product merchandising to convey compelling travel products in the blink of an eye.

Marketing as a Sales Contract: Websites & advertising often over-promise and under-deliver. We help you anticipate the assumptions that today's travelers bring as minimum international standards. Workshops explore this 'marketing baggage' to leverage past experience and information design to communicate your 'best in the world' positioning followed by 'need to know' info and 'nice to know' detail.

Caribbean Consulting provides a set of marketing tools that can be used to effectively sell your destination through all distribution channels. It also serves as a consistent 'implied contract' that sets expectations prior to arrival.

Expectation vs. Reality: Once the traveler arrives, does your destination make sure the travel experience lives up to the 'implied contract' in your marketing?

Caribbean Consulting shows you how to complement and elevate the efforts of private sector businesses to increase customer satisfaction and turn guests into personal 'sales ambassadors'.

Ongoing Quality Control & Product Development: We use online resources to look at trends from actual travelers over a period of time. Leverage the power of peer-to-peer review sites, online communities, target markets and social networking to help you see your destination through the eyes of your customers.

Caribbean Consulting trains your staff to use the internet for ongoing product development and quality control to optimize travel-related revenue and the 'multiplier effect' this has throughout your national economy.

What you get for your investment

Expert Merchandising: You get onsite consultation from two of the leading experts in travel merchandising during the visit who will help you maximize exposure for your destination for today's travel consumer. Think of today's travel market as one huge 'shopping mall' or 'mega-store'. Caribbean Consulting shows you how to get your destination on the shelf in the most productive distribution channels that deliver satisfied customers and yield the highest economic impact to the local economy. You will have a solid understanding of how to set yourself apart from the competition. This provides a solid foundation for cost-effective marketing and product development.

Workshops & Seminars: Every destination is different, so we never use packaged teaching materials or pre-formatted programs. Each dynamic workshop is designed based on your destination and prioritized according to your marketing needs. Caribbean Consulting sessions cover:

w Merchandising your destination experience to maximize online exposure.

w Online Marketing & Promotion to increase consumer interest and length of stay.

w Information Distribution & Expectation Management to maximize dollars spent.

w Forums, Reviews & Social Networks for product development & quality control

Competitive Advantage: Now that we know where you fit in the global market, what makes people say "I've got to go there!"  We work with branding, competitive advantages, target markets, perceived value and international standards to develop a 'marketing toolkit' you will use to effectively 'tell the story' of your property.

Blueprint for Marketing: We will jointly develop a 'blueprint for marketing' with easy to follow instructions. Now you can increase visitors/occupancy, reduce marketing costs and  maximize economic impact. 

Wireframe Prototype¹ for Website Development: Tourist Boards often use this program when they are ready to revise their website.  In these cases, we supplement our Blueprint for Marketing that documents the results of our workshops with a 'wireframe' working prototype. This prototype allows all participants plus future web developers clearly see mocked-up examples of your 'wish list' for a new website. This is often used in lieu of a written 'request for proposal' (RFP) when soliciting bids from web developers or advertising agencies for a new website.

Onsite Training: Caribbean Consulting will 'train the trainer' how to follow the blueprint for marketing - plus analyze results, implement changes and report success stories to government and private sector interests.

Ongoing Support: Our onsite work is not the end of the story. Caribbean Consulting provides on-going telephone and email support as you implement our recommendations over the next six months. 

All of this for one low fixed price!

¹ What are Wireframe Prototypes?

Wireframes are a basic visual guide used to suggest the layout and placement of fundamental design elements in the interface design. Because of this they must be completed before any artwork is developed. When completed correctly they will provide a visual reference upon which to structure each page. They also allow for the development of variations of a layout to maintain design consistency throughout your site. This is an important part of the initial development stage because it creates user expectations and helps to develop an awareness and familiarity throughout the site.

Creating a set of wireframes for any project also act as a communication tool to clients and stakeholders, such as content creators, engineers and developers. Over the course of a project the wireframing exercise functions as a stable base on which to consider changes, diverse user paths and new requirements. The information architect and information designer typically use the wireframes as a meeting of the minds, in terms of having solid working documents on which to establish the language, content and structure of interactions users will have with a given site or project.

The creation of wireframes also helps to define the positioning of global and secondary levels of navigation in a prominent and intuitive position, as well as providing an area for utilities such as helpful information and search facilities. When creating your wireframes it is critical to ensure that branding is central to the identity of a site so as to communicate the personality of the site.   

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia