The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) has announced a social media campaign dubbed, #TheCaribbeanAwaits, in observance of Caribbean Tourism Month this month.
The campaign, which is being run in conjunction with member countries, aims to maintain the Caribbean’s prominence as a place of solace as COVID-19 continues to impact the global travel and tourism industry.
“This theme complements the region’s success in generally containing the spread of COVID-19, which has taken a major toll on tourism along with other sectors of our economies. Caribbean countries have taken the required steps to protect our citizens and residents, conducted the required training to prepare our tourism and related frontline workers for the return of visitors, and put the health protocols in place to reassure our potential visitors and residents that we take their health seriously. This has been the groundwork, and now we seek to rebuild the sector,” said Neil Walters, the CTO’s acting secretary-general in a message to mark the start of the month.
“The resilience of the Caribbean is shown by the progress we have made towards the resumption of tourism activity. Currently, about 25 Caribbean countries have reopened their borders to commercial travel, either fully or partially, and others are putting the necessary measures in place to welcome visitors. This year’s theme further complements the reopening of our borders, as the clarion call ‘We welcome you’ speaks to the fact that the Caribbean is the perfect place for those who have begun to travel or are thinking of traveling soon, to find solace in a place that is an oasis of health at this time,” Walters added.
During the course of the month, the public will be encouraged to share on social media, the things they “can’t wait to experience” in the Caribbean, using the hashtag #TheCaribbeanAwaits and tagging the CTO and the particular country.
The CTO, with support from the membership, will also execute a photo and video campaign reflecting them, as well as a series of short celebratory-themed “live” demonstrations on Facebook, including cuisine and cocktails, to promote excitement about the Caribbean.
Introduced in 2011, Caribbean Tourism Month has as its primary objectives the creation of opportunities to raise awareness among the people of the Caribbean as to the importance of tourism to the development of the region, the generation of media coverage of the Caribbean tourism product and each destination’s local tourism product, and the celebration of the diversity of the Caribbean tourism product.
This year’s observance holds special significance due to the impact of COVID-19 on the industry.
