GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – Honorable Minister Ingrid Arrindell of the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT), is very pleased with the preliminary results from the public/private partnership “Save the Summer” tourism-promotion program that was officially launched in May 2016.
The partnership is between the Government of Sint Maarten and the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA). “This initiative was developed to use the online marketing giants Expedia and TripAdvisor. The idea was to leverage the massive marketing power of these two industry leaders to gain an immediate drive to book summer 2016 vacations on Sint Maarten.
“The Government of Sint Maarten has invested $ 200,000, Expedia and TripAdvisor have matched those funds, and the SHTA participating members are also contributing matching funds, which has resulted in an immediate online marketing boost of approximately $ 600,000,” Minister of Tourism Ingrid Arrindell said on Friday.
Expedia, Inc. is one of the largest online travel companies in the world, with an extensive brand portfolio that includes some of the world’s leading online travel brands. Collectively, the Expedia, Inc. brands cover virtually every aspect of researching, planning, and booking travel, from choosing the best airplane seat, to reading personal travel reviews of hotels, to planning what to do in a destination once you arrive. The Expedia, Inc. portfolio serves both leisure and business travelers with tastes and budgets ranging from modest to luxury.
Expedia, Inc. results as of June 5th for the first month are increases as follows: Year over Year (Actual and OTB) +10 per cent; Year over Year Hotel only +16 per cent; Year of Year Package +34 per cent; Year over Year Total +23 per cent.
TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and book the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers advice from millions of travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools that check hundreds of websites to find the best hotel prices. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 340 million unique monthly visitors, and 350 million reviews and opinions covering more than 6.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 48 markets worldwide.
TripAdvisor results reported as of June 1 are: 545,238 impressions delivered; 0.14%Targeted Banners Performance (click thru rate); Desktop Banners 0.07%; Mobile Banners 0.38%; St. Maarten Page – elements went live in June 2016, Destination Page Elements 0% interaction; and St. Maarten Page Banner Flight Performance Interaction Rate 1.58% CTR.
Summer Banner Flight Standouts/Surprises, Best line: – Mobile Caribbean Pages NY, NJ, CT, Miami, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas & Washington, DC DMA IPs 0.37% interaction; Second Best line, Mobile, Beaches, NY, NJ, CT, Miami, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas & Washington, DC DMA IPs 0.23% interaction; Third Best line, Mobile, Foodies, NY, NJ, CT, Miami, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas & Washington, DC DMA IPs / Foodies Segment 0.18% interaction.
Benchmarks for Google are 0 .08% and e-marketer – 0.04%. and, Caribbean/LatAm Benchmark on TA for week of May 30th: 0.18%.
“I am working towards a continuous improvement of our Save the Summer program. Getting ‘heads in beds’ is the ultimate goal of any marketing campaign, and the initial results indicate that we are accomplishing this goal.
”We are also working on developing a year-round calendar of events on Sint Maarten that will add additional reasons for guests to want to visit the destination. Events in the planning stages are Culinary Month, Summer Concerts and Parties, Restaurant Week, Labour Day Weekend, SXM Music Festival and many more.
These events will build on our Sea, Sun, and Sand offerings. There is still a significant amount of work to be done, but we are working diligently to get a steady flow of visitors who will continue to return for more visits, and to have the visibility of Sint Maarten where it needs to be,” Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Ingrid Arrindell said on Friday.
PHOTO CUTLINE: Minister Ingrid Arrindell
