USVI launches 150-day marketing plan after major hurricanes

Homes damaged by Hurricane Irma in St. Thomas

Following the impact of two Category 5 hurricanes in September, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism has developed a 150-day rolling marketing plan to share with industry stakeholders.

“This new plan has been developed to establish priorities and a road map of activities we will pursue as our destination recovers,” Commissioner of Tourism Beverly Nicholson-Doty stated.

She noted that the “abridged plan” will be fluid and adaptable to the current dynamic recovery environment and the Department of Tourism is committed to continuing to share regular progress updates with travel partners and the local community.

The Commissioner disclosed that the Department is working with a significantly reduced budget, as marketing activities are funded by room tax revenues. “With a significant number of accommodations unavailable for most of 2018, the marketing plan reflects working with a reduced budget,” she explained, noting that the U.S. Virgin Islands will maintain a limited presence at key trade shows across the United States.

Public relations and marketing efforts will focus on sharing Virgin Islanders’ stories of resilience. “Our digital marketing efforts will primarily focus on social media, where we will highlight segments such as cruise, shopping, dining, watersports, beaches, romance, culture, available accommodations and yachting,” she said. Efforts and messaging toward telling stories of resilience will use the hashtag #USVIStillNice.

“As we recover from the challenges posed by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, we have no doubt that there is an opportunity for the U.S. Virgin Islands – with a refreshed product and visitor experience – to become the premier tourism destination in the Caribbean,” the Commissioner asserted.

She reported that airline and cruise line development meetings will continue this year, and that voluntourism opportunities are being launched across the Territory, a detailed plan for which will be unveiled during the first quarter of 2018.

The Territory’s film industry will also remain a focus, with the Department attending industry trade shows specifically targeted to this audience.

The Commissioner expressed her ongoing appreciation of the business community and travel partners for their support of the destination and their continued collaboration.

The Department will make the 150-day plan available to stakeholders over the next several days.

Copyright 2012 Dominica News Online, DURAVISION INC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.

Disclaimer: The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of DominicaNewsOnline.com and its parent company or any individual staff member. All comments are posted subject to approval by DominicaNewsOnline.com. We never censor based on political or ideological points of view, but we do try to maintain a sensible balance between free speech and responsible moderating.

We will delete comments that:

  • contain any material which violates or infringes the rights of any person, are defamatory or harassing or are purely ad hominem attacks
  • a reasonable person would consider abusive or profane
  • contain material which violates or encourages others to violate any applicable law
  • promote prejudice or prejudicial hatred of any kind
  • refer to people arrested or charged with a crime as though they had been found guilty
  • contain links to "chain letters", pornographic or obscene movies or graphic images
  • are off-topic and/or excessively long

See our full comment/user policy/agreement.

2 Comments

  1. derp
    January 24, 2018

    good for them, meanwhile in Dominica, they rushing to finish fix the cruise ship berth for the cruise ship on Sunday…. always dragging our feet…

    • A blessed Island Dominica
      January 27, 2018

      You don’t even know what you are saying …..I reside in the USVI and trust me the seaport and airport in St.Thomas were first thing they had to get going because of the cruise ship….So stop making comments that you all know nothing about.

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

:) :-D :wink: :( 8-O :lol: :-| :cry: 8) :-? :-P :-x :?: :oops: :twisted: :mrgreen: more »

 characters available