ST. KITTS TOURISM AUTHORITY HITS THE ROAD TO ENGAGE WITH CANADIAN TRAVEL AGENTS

In its ongoing efforts to prioritize product immersion and relationship building in Canada, the St. Kitts Tourism Authority just wrapped up a successful roadshow, where it met with close to 500 top travel agents in several cities across Ontario, a key source market for the destination.

For the third year in a row, St. Kitts was highlighted as the Destination Sponsor of the Granite Travel Trade Expos, held April 7-10 in Windsor, Kitchener, Barrie and Oshawa. The four cities are in strategic markets surrounding Toronto, which is Air Canada’s hub city, that offers seasonal, non-stop flights to St. Kitts, November through April. At the sold-out shows, attendees experienced all the destination had to offer with training presentations and a trade show exhibit, plus the chance to win exciting prizes.

“Canada continues to be an extremely important market for St. Kitts and the Granite Travel Trade Expos provide us with an incredible opportunity to engage with top performing agents in key cities where we can drive growth,” said St. Kitts Tourism Authority CEO, Kelly Fontenelle. “Connecting face-to-face with these travel professionals and immersing them in our diverse offerings so they can better sell St. Kitts to their clients, is a win-win; plus, we enjoy prime visibility because of our commitment as the Destination Sponsor.”

St. Kitts will participate in Granite’s continuing roadshow series this November, reaching additional markets in Ottawa, Kingston, Vaughan and Hamilton. The Canadian team has also been conducting ongoing webinar education sessions on the destination, recently training the TravelBrands and Global Agents groups. St. Kitts is also working closely this year with RedTag.ca, one of Canada’s leading retail travel agencies, and forging relationships with other online travel agencies and tour operators in the market.

“St. Kitts is making significant investments to improving our agent education in Canada by offering ongoing training and providing incentives for agents to sell the destination,” said CEO Fontenelle. “This works hand in hand with our St. Kitts YourWay (SKY) program that encourages advisors to visit our destination and explore on their own terms. Travel advisors play a huge role in moving our destination forward and providing support with these programs enable us to create new ambassadors for St. Kitts who in turn, want to sell it to their clients.”

As the destination kicks off its Summer Unscripted campaign, it also continues to reach out directly to Canadian consumers. The summer campaign encourages Canadians to explore St. Kitts spontaneously, with exclusive offers and a variety of authentic experiences to choose from.

St. Kitts has also been featured extensively in Canadian media outlets leading into the summer, providing increased awareness for the island at a time when many Canadians are looking for alternative destinations for summer and fall travel this year. Recent broadcast coverage on City TV’s ‘Breakfast Television’ show highlighted the island as one of four incredible destinations untouched by overtourism, and CHCH-TV’s ‘Next Destination’ was a fully dedicated half-hour show on St. Kitts. Other coverage has appeared in top outlets including Foodism, VITA Magazine, BOLD Traveller and CHCH-TV’s Morning Live, to name just a few.