Barbados Reveals New Destination Website Conveying the Island’s Immersive Experience
Toronto, Canada. May 26, 2016 – Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) has launched a new website, to elevate the destination’s online presence, including several new media features, to offer visitors a peek into the Barbados experience, with a depth of discovery that far exceeds the site’s previous incarnation. The revamped visitbarbados.org comes perfectly timed as the island celebrates 50 years of independence in 2016, with a plethora of on-island activities as well as celebrations close to home in Canada, with a three-day ‘Barbados on the Water’ Festival occurring in Toronto from Friday, May 27 through Sunday, May 29, 2016.
BMTI created the new interactive site to boost travellers’ understanding of the island and help in planning their ultimate holiday in Barbados. With 360° videos that provide visitors with virtual views of the destination; trip planning tools; and vibrant content, the site is a rich go-to resource that also includes highlights on a wide array of attractions, services and events on the island. It all adds up to conveying the breadth and depth of the immersive experience available for travellers to Barbados.
“We are taking a comprehensive approach where the new website will be integrated with our social media and digital marketing strategies to deepen our relationships with potential and repeat visitors online,” said BTMI CEO William Griffith. “This project represents a significant undertaking, and a major opportunity to enhance our digital marketing capabilities and brand presence on a global scale.”
The new website brings the island of Barbados that much closer to Canadians, many of whom yearn to travel to this eastern Caribbean gem. In fact, Barbados enjoys and industry-leading repeat-visitor rate of approximately 40 per cent from Canada.
Peter Mayers, BTMI’s Director for Canada, references internal research indicating that a large number of Canadian travellers like to do their pre-trip planning by seeking out information on tours, adventures and activities they can do at the destination; and that further, many like to learn about local culture and history in advance of travelling.
Mayers adds, “We know they are doing much of this research online, and our new website has all the prime information to help Canadians plan an immersive Barbados vacation experience.”
The revitalized and boosted visitbarbados.org content is so rich and deep that it almost feels like taking a trip to the island while exploring it. Almost. It certainly sparks the ‘take me to Barbados’ wanderlust. Those in Toronto this weekend, and dreaming of trip to Barbados have a strong chance of making that dream a reality with a #TAKEMETOBARBADOS social media contest (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are the platforms included), running at the Barbados on the Water festival, happening May 27 – 29, 2016 at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. In celebration of fifty years of independence for Barbados, this three-day festival will feature tasty cuisine, music, fashion, literary events, crafts and much more—all things with ‘soca, spice and soul’.
Barbados-loving travellers who visit the Festival are invited to post a selfie and include the hashtag #TAKEMETOBARBADOS for a chance to win a four-day-three-night trip to the Caribbean island, including round-trip airfare from Toronto, and activities while there.
