Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands, August 13, 2013 – The Turks and Caicos may soon bid farewell to the typically slower, summer tourist season as the Tourist Board launches an aggressive digital marketing push in Brazil. Aimed at attracting beach lovers, yachters, and divers seeking a luxury escape from the Brazilian winter months, July to August, the Board partnered with Ocean Eyes Productions and Viajan Turismo of Brazil to commence a series of campaigns.
Since embarking on the marketing initiative, the Turks and Caicos have been featured in an 8-page spread in Mergulho Magazine, one of Brazil’s leading dive publications, and in subsequent full-page advertisements to establish a base among the magazine’s audience. Promotional reprints with exquisite photography of Providenciales and Grand Turk and a 2-minute promotional video, narrated by Brazilian journalist and singer/songwriter Susana Bragatto – all in Portuguese, have been created to capture the market’s attention. In addition, Ocean Eyes Production and Viajan Turismo will spearhead four dive presentations at major dive showcases in several cities, namely Santos, Piracicaba, Jundiaí, and in São Paulo. Ocean Eyes Production has also maintained a blog, Oceano Vivo, showcasing their travels throughout the islands and updates about the dive presentations.
According to Banco Central’s Hotel Price Index, Brazilians spent US$6 billion on foreign travel during the first quarter of 2013, an 11.5% increase compared to the same period in 2012. They also set a record by spending another US$2.2 billion in foreign travel in May 2013, 22% more than in May 2012. Moreover, Brazilians rank #7 in the world in terms of the amount they pay per person for hotel stays: they spend an average of R$364 (US$160) per person, more than Americans or Australians.
With a rapidly expanding middle class of about 90 million consumers, Brazil is a market that no sound brand can afford to ignore. “There is no doubt that the Brazilian market presents immense potential for the Turks and Caicos Islands,” commented Mr. Ralph Higgs, Director of Tourism. “We have been studying the trends of the Brazilian consumers for quite some time and we’re very confident, with new development projects in the works and with the redevelopment of the Providenciales International Airport in progress, now’s a pivotal time to increase our visibility and position the Turks and Caicos as an easily accessible, luxury destination of choice.”
Brazil is Latin America’s largest luxury market; their consumers are brand loyal and value quality goods and services. Also of key insight for the Tourist Board is the Brazilians extremely friendly disposition; they enjoy socializing around food, sports and culture. Brazilians are very connected to the internet and are extremely social media savvy with 71% of Brazilians purchasing plane tickets via the internet; Brazil is also the #2 Facebook and Twitter Market in the world, yet newspapers and magazines sales continue to flourish.
Due to these findings, the Tourist Board has also expanded their social media plan to include a Turks and Caicos Facebook Fanpage in Portuguese. “The ‘Ilhas Turks e Caicos’ Facebook Fanpage was launched in July and has seen promising growth within a short time for a new market,” says Tourist Board’s Senior Public Relations Officer, Oehleo Higgs. “Analytics from Facebook Page Insights show as at July 30th our Portuguese Fanpage received 15,667 views with 100 active users being engaged from 68 posts – consisting of 38 beautiful images of the Turks and Caicos, 1 video and an average of 8 shares per post.”
Throughout the remainder of the year, the Tourist Board will continue to examine new leads and engage with Brazilian journalist and travel wholesalers to strategize further plans to increase our Islands visibility throughout the Latin American region.
