US Republicans could be key to resuscitating Caribbean tourism
Published:Sunday | May 24, 2020 | 12:27 AMJanet Silvera - Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
As Caribbean tourism rebounds, marketers are looking to Republican-leaning Americans to be among the first set of visitors to return to the region’s shores based on an in-depth social sentiment data analysis.
The study of millions of social-media conversations related to coronavirus and travel in the US reveals stark differences between Republicans and Democrats in their attitudes towards social engagement and the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, which ground regional tourism to a halt since March.
The data was released during a webinar tagged ‘Ready to Reopen? How The Caribbean Tourism Industry Should Prepare For The Tourism Restart’. Hosted by New York-based The PM Group and its partner Sparkloft Mediain, in association with IATA and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, last week, the session revealed that Americans who “lean Republican” are less concerned about resuming normal activities, including leisure travel.
The data is in line with other traditional polls conducted by a number of entities.
The PM Group, which is headed by the likes of former Jamaica Tourist Board deputy director of tourism for the Americas, Noel Mignott, and Alison Ross, as well as former secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Hugh Riley, notes that these prospective travellers are more likely to resume going to restaurants, salons, and sports events.
Americans comprise 50 per cent of all leisure travellers to the Caribbean by air.
Best Opportunities for Travel Reboot
During the online event, which attracted over 500 Caribbean tourism planners, stakeholders and travel advisers, a number of additional prospects were identified as offering the best opportunities for restarting travel to the Caribbean. They include repeat travellers, including the Caribbean diaspora, who are often brand champions for the region; affluent travellers, who may have had no impact on their net worth and no encounter with the COVID-19 virus in their social circles; and long-haul travellers, who may traditionally go to Europe in the summer, but may now be open to closer vacation alternatives.
The webinar also highlighted the fundamental changes in the US consumer mindset and the emergence of three distinct consumer behaviours, categorised as the action-oriented consumer, the curators and the escapist, all of whom need to be approached in different ways with custom content and calls to action.
Special guest panellist Filipe Pereira dos Reis, IATA’s director of airport, passenger, cargo and security for the Americas, presented the organisation’s Road Map to Restarting Aviation, designed to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus and restore confidence among consumers in air travel. It calls for the temporary introduction of a series of multilayered, biosecurity measures, which will impact every stage of the passenger experience from preflight, through check-in, departure airport, airport processes, boarding, in-flight, arrival airport, border control and in-transit.
These measures are recommended for implementation at airports across the global community, and details of the changes travellers may encounter at each stage were shared with webinar attendees.