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Brand plans in the Caribbean

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Brand plans in the Caribbean

By Tom Stieghorst

*InsightAs cruising grows globally, the Caribbean finds itself competing with rich destinations that have plenty of capital. How do Caribbean countries find the resources to keep their edge in the battle for passengers?

One solution appears to be to tap into the power of established local brands, as some cruise lines and tour operators are doing in Jamaica.

Royal Caribbean International has struck a branding partnership with Red Stripe, the well-known beer brewed on the island by Desnoes & Geddes. The beer’s squat brown bottle and painted label are a Jamaican icon, and it is distributed in a number of foreign countries by Diageo, the worldwide liquor marketer.*TomStieghorst

Another example is support by Appleton Rum for tours of the 2,000 acre Good Hope estate, a plantation near Falmouth where Royal’s giant Oasis and Allure of the Seas ships dock.

Tour operator Chukka Caribbean Adventures offers the culturally-focused tours. This year it developed excursions for guests to the estate based on coffee, spices and rum, all which were once produced at the historical attraction.

Visitors can take a step back in time to when plantation culture was in its prime, and then purchase products before returning to their ship.

In addition to Appleton, sponsors include Jablum Coffee and Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning.

The use of international brands leverages the earning power of local Caribbean businesses beyond what they might otherwise yield. Some of that money can be returned to marketing local tourist sites to international travelers, fueling a virtuous cycle.

The possibility for rum and beer sponsorships across the Caribbean seems especially promising, with nearly every island producing its own version of rum, from Cruzan in the Virgin Islands to Mount Gay in Barbados and Betancourt in Haiti.

Beyond Red Stripe, beer exports with international followings include Presidente and Bohemia in the Dominican Republic and Kalik in the Bahamas.

Branded partnerships represent the kind of creative financial thinking that Caribbean destinations will have to employ to compete with rich destinations like Singapore and Hong Kong for cruise passengers.

Home-grown brands are a not-so-hidden Caribbean asset, and the time is ripe to put them to good use.

Key West voters say no to large cruise ships

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Key West voters say no to large cruise ships

By Tom Stieghorst
Key West residents have voted against asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study widening the ship channel to accommodate larger cruise ships.

The vote was 4,531-1,630 against the study, according to newspaper reports.

Dredging the channel from 300 feet to 450 feet in width would displace 150,000 cubic yards of seafloor protected by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

The $3 million study would lay out the economic benefits and environmental costs of the project.

Cruise passengers spend about $80 million annually in Key West.

The vote pitted some business interests against a group called Key West Committee for Responsible Tourism, which opposes the project.

Changes at consumer travel magazines

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By Tom Stieghorst

*InsightWhere do travelers get an idea of which cruise line to choose, or even the idea to cruise at all? One traditional source has been consumer magazines, and especially Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler.

The glossies make cruising an aspirational vacation, but both of them are in flux. Travel + Leisure is being sold by longtime owner American Express to the venerable magazine publisher Time, Inc., while Conde Nast Traveler has jettisoned its veteran editor and appointed a new one; last week, according to reports, nearly half of its editorial staff was dismissed.*TomStieghorst

What does their future hold?

In the cruise universe, the two high-end publications are perhaps best known for producing “best of” lists that give bragging rights to the industry.

Silversea Cruises, for example, has a page on its website that notes it has been named best small ship cruise line nine times by Conde Nast Traveler and seven times by Travel + Leisure. Conde Nast Traveler polls its readers about their preference in small, medium and large ship categories, and river cruises are ranked as well.

Both also publish a list of top travel agents.

Beyond recognition and editorial focus, the magazines are marketing vehicles for cruise lines trying to reach their customers. They’re particularly valuable for smaller lines that can afford a page in one of the two magazines but don’t have the budgets to afford national television ads, a la Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International.

Costa Cruises, a niche player at this point in the U.S. market, advertises almost exclusively to consumers in Travel + Leisure.

The divestiture of the American Express Publishing Corp. appears to have little to do with travel and everything to do with finance. In announcing the sale to Time, American Express said new banking regulations “limit our ability to engage in nonfinancial activities.”

The acquisition follows a 20-year relationship between Time Inc. and American Express Publishing during which Time Inc. has provided management services support to the company.

Although Time is being spun-off from parent company Time Warner and faces its own issues, it isn’t expected to significantly change the editorial mission of the American Express magazines after the deal closes in the 2014 fourth quarter.

The direction of Conde Nast Traveler appears less certain, after the dismissal of Klara Glowczewska, who had been editor in chief since 2005.

The new editor, Pilar Guzman, comes from Martha Stewart Living, and is said to be steering Traveler towards softer, shorter lifestyle stories. Major changes aren’t expected to hit print until early next year.