INTIMATE HOTELS OF BARBADOS, a group representing over 40 small hotels, guest houses and villas, is looking to roll out an innovative marketing plan to boost occupancy during the summer season.
This was revealed by chairman Jeff Kinch during an interview with BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY last Wednesday.
“Since we know that Europeans travel a lot in the summer, we would put a lot of effort where there is airlift out of those destinations.
“There are parts of Germany that are near France and soon we’ll be having airlift out of France through XL Airways,” he said following a Barbados Tourism Authority Press conference at the Dover Beach Hotel.
Kinch, managing director of the hotel, noted that there are also “sufficient” arrivals from former Soviet Union states and Intimate Hotels should make an effort to target them.
He said occupancy rates for the winter season which ended last month were a lot better than in the previous year and promotional efforts for summer will be targeting source markets that provided the majority of business.
The hotelier said the group will look for opportunities to offer visitors various packages, including sporting, diving and educational offers.
Noting that there are several niches to be explored, Kinch said that one university group comes here for about three weeks each year to learn about Caribbean economics.
He also suggested keeping a database of guests and later offering them incentives to get their friends to come.
“Young people are on the Internet so they learn a lot about a lot of countries. In the old-time days most people bought their vacations as a package from travel agents. A lot of people now book directly online,” he said.
He added that while Intimate Hotels will continue to work with online travel reservation companies like Expedia and TripAdvisor, it will also be doing “its own thing”. (NB)
