Tourism
Tourism
$200 USD / CAD awarded to the travel agent
with the most bookings. In addition, the top
20 producing agents from the United States
and Canada will be invited on a familiarization
trip to experience the destination first
hand. The website for the customized
Pure Grenada, the Spice of the Caribbean is Trending Globally
P
ure Grenada, the Spice of the Caribbean
is trending globally and this wave of
attention is contributing to strong year
on year growth in arrivals. The statistics up to
September 2018 showed that the destination
maintained double-digit growth at 20.35%.
The cruise industry grew by 27.17%, yachting
by 14.26% and stayover by 10.25% with the
destination poised to reach the half a million
total visitor mark at the end of 2018. These
positive projections are exciting for the
destination as anticipation builds for the
completion of major hotel projects.
PURE GRENADA SPECIALIST PROGRAMME
To maintain the momentum, the Grenada
Tourism Authority is employing a number of
strategies to increase visitor arrivals. In 2017,
the GTA launched its Pure Grenada Specialist
programme for travel agents in the US and
HOTEL DEVELOPMENTS
Silversands Grenada, the first hotel
development on Grand Anse Beach in over
25 years is scheduled for an end of year open
while work is also progressing on the Kimpton,
Kawana Bay, another hotel development on
Grand Anse Beach, which is scheduled to
open in 2019. Room stock is estimated to
grow by 32% in the next two years leading to
an increased capacity of almost 3,000 rooms
licensed by the Grenada Tourism Authority
(GTA). Longstanding properties including the
Spice Island Beach Resort, Calabash Luxury
Boutique Resort, Sandals Grenada, True Blue
Bay Resort and Mt. Cinnamon Beach Resort
have all made major investments into their
product over the last few years.
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Canada. It was implemented by Questex Media
LLC, one of the leading North American
travel trade publishers of e-learning and
loyalty based platforms. The comprehensive
travel agent university platform is a strategic
endeavor to promote all the products of
Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. In
June, the loyalty aspect of the programme was
launched to incentivize the more than 20,000
registered trade professionals to become an
extension of the destination’s marketing and
sales team.
Incentives include a monthly cash prize of
www.businessgrenada.com
Pure Grenada Specialist Program
www.puregrenadaspecialist.com.
is
ENGAGING TRAVEL TRADE AND THE MEDIA
The GTA also embarked on a series of
engagements with media in the US and
Canada. The engagements began with a first-
ever media reception in the key gate-way cities
of Toronto, on April 20 and New York on May
31. The goals of the campaign were to educate
media on the latest news and developments
from the island as well as why Grenada is the
destination of choice for discerning travelers.
The first initiative was a frontline customer
service training workshop facilitated by Aquila
Tours Inc. the official training partner of
The cruise industry grew by 27.17%, yachting
by 14.26% and stayover by 10.25% with the
destination poised to reach the half a million
total visitor mark at the end of 2018.
Grenada Cruise Guest Experience project and
roadmap. Mico Cascais with 30-plus years’
experience in the global cruise industry was
engaged to fill this role. The project was a 50/50
public private partnership between the Ministry
of Tourism/Grenada Tourism Authority
and private tourism stakeholders. Coming
out of the consultancy a number of actions
were decided including the engagement of
executives and shore excursion teams of major
cruise brands and local training. Additionally,
the GTA will install eight storyboards which will
feature unique authentic experiences in Pure
Grenada aimed at enticing cruise visitors to
make bookings.
As part of the consultancy, the GTA completed
three major training programmes geared at
improving customer service and experiences in
“
“
Pure Grenada, the Spice of the Caribbean. The
training sessions took place in September.
the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association
(FCCA). Ninety five (95) people representing
frontline tourism organizations including the
GTA, Grenada Taxi Association, National Taxi
Association, Grenada Watertaxi Association,
Royal Grenada Police Force, Esplanade Retail
Shops, the Gouyave Nutmeg Processing
Station, Grand Anse Vendors Market, Ministry
of Tourism Tour Guides and GTA registered
tour operators completed the training.
senior tour operators aimed at promoting
excellent destination shore experiences. The
senior tour operators examined the packaging
of tours, adding value, new tour ideas, training
of their staff and the elements of making
memorable experiences.
The final training programme saw close
to sixty frontline personnel being trained
in introductory Spanish, French, German
and Italian delivered by representatives of
the Grenada Association of Retired Persons
(GARP) and Tropical Charms Tours.
Participants learnt basic greetings and other
important phrases to assist in a smoother
interaction with visitors who speak another
language.
VISIT OF THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OF CARNIVAL PLC.
Some of the topics covered during the
programme were greetings and first
impressions,
verbal
and
non-verbal
communication,
surpassing
customer
expectations, competition for the Caribbean
cruise sector and visitor reviews. A major highlight for the cruise industry in
2018 was the visit of the President and CEO
of Carnival Corporation Arnold Donald. Mr.
Donald visited on September 19 after being
invited to experience Grenada by Minister
for Tourism and Civil Aviation Hon. Clarice
Modeste-Curwen at the Florida Caribbean
Cruise Association (FCCA) Conference in
Merida, Mexico. He first paid a courtesy call to
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr. the Right Hon.
Keith Mitchell where they discussed matters
related to the cruise industry and deepening
the relationship between Carnival Corporation
and Grenada.
The Aquila trainer also held a session with Then the Carnival CEO attended a meet
Engagements continued with a first-ever
media reception in Montreal, Québec on July
19. Representatives from some of the city’s
leading consumer and travel trade media
outlets including Travel Week, PaxNews,
The Suburban, Tourism Plus, CTV, Montreal
Gazette, Huffington Post Québec and CJAD
radio as well as social media influencers that
cover key niche markets such as soft adventure,
culture and culinary, were in attendance to
hear about what makes Grenada, Carriacou
and Petite Martinique the ideal Caribbean
destination for Québécois travelers.
CRUISE INDUSTRY FOCUS
Major focus was also placed on the cruise
industry for 2018. A six-month consultancy
was approved by Tourism Minister Hon. Clarice
Modeste-Curwen with the aim of developing a
www.businessgrenada.com
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