St. Kitts in the eye of the Big Apple
 |
|
St Kitts’ Minister of Tourism & International Transport Senator Ricky Skerritt with American Airlines’ Director of Sales for Greater New York, Johna Johnson, and Account Sales Manager for International Sales & Marketing, Andrew Rowe, at a Manhattan Newsstand Displaying One of St. Kitts Co-Op Ads with American Airlines |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 9TH 2011 (CUOPM) – A series of billboard-type ads depicting scenery from St. Kitts have begun appearing at various locations throughout New York City to help strengthen awareness for the region within that key target market.
The ads will appear in the Financial (Wall Street), Chelsea and Midtown districts of New York City, geographic areas specifically selected by St. Kitts in order to reach the city’s more affluent consumers and support American Airlines’ service to the island including non-stop flights from JFK on Sundays and Wednesdays and daily connecting service via San Juan and Miami.
The St. Kitts ads spotlight the island as a destination that can be reached via American Airlines. Variations of the ad feature an image of the St. Kitts Scenic Railway as the backdrop for simple ad copy and a photo of an American Airlines plane and/or their logo. The image selection and creative was handled by American Airlines’ advertising agency TM Advertising, Dallas, a unit of McCann Worldgroup. A total of 93 of these ads will appear each week over the course of 12 weeks, making for a grand total of 1,116 ads appearing between October 3 and December 25, 2011.
“I’m extremely gratified that American Airlines has provided this excellent marketing platform to the Caribbean. It clearly demonstrates how much they value our region as well as their continued support for our tourism industry,” said Senator the Hon. Ricky Skerritt, Minister of Tourism and International Transport.
 |
|
A St. Kitts Taxi-Top Ad as seen from an office window in New York City. |
“By participating in this highly targeted program, St. Kitts is able to get the attention of potential New York area visitors at a time when they are likely to be making decisions about their upcoming winter-season travel and to entice them to choose the Caribbean for their next trip,” said Mr. Skerritt, who is also Chairman of the Council of Minister for the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).
Locations utilized in the co-operative advertising campaign include taxi tops, newsstands, double-decker buses, phone kiosks and urban subway panels. St. Kitts is one of seven member countries of the Caribbean Tourism Organization participating in this American Airlines initiative.
Over the past months, St. Kitts was named a top destination for 2011 by both AOL Travel and British Airways. Located in the northern Leeward Islands of the Caribbean, it offers a diverse tourism product developed from the destination’s natural beauty, rich history and cultural heritage. The island’s stunning variety of tourism attractions include hiking through the tropical rainforest, riding the scenic railway that connects the island’s former sugar plantations, visiting the Caribelle Batik factory, touring Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park which is the only man-made UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Eastern Caribbean, and traditional vacation pastimes such as watersports, golf, shopping, tennis, gourmet dining, gaming at St. Kitts’ exclusive casino or simply relaxing on one of the island’s sandy beaches. Accommodations range from intimate plantation inns to larger hotels and resorts.