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Roatan and Bay Islands Discussion List Archive
| Posted On: | 10-Aug-2005 |
| From: | Ted OBrien [bayislandsboy.....com] |
| Subject: | Re: [roatan] Carib Fest |
Dear Ana: I'm sure all those things were done. But the fact remains, as Dian said, we never got the message, and neither did a lot of others. Admittedly, I wish I had the time to read the daily newspaper and listen to the radio, but I don't. When we market the Bay Islands Beach Resort in the United States, we not only run ads in the magazines, go to trade and dive shows, put up a good web site, and all that stuff, but we make personal calls on dive shops and dive clubs - where the people are. We can't afford to pick up people one at a time, so we go to the dive shops that have the big followings of loyal customers. We let them put together the trip - an pay them a nice commission and incentives to do so. Similarly, I would have expected someone to call me, make an appointment, come and visit with me and my marketing people, and present us with a promotional package so we could sell this great event to our guests, who don't see the fliers, the booths in the stores, and don't read Honduras This Week. Re: transportation, you and I live here and know how things work, but many of our guests, sadly, never leave the resort property for the whole week they are here. They are nervous about safety, about being ripped off, about getting lost, about not speaking Spanish, etc. These kinds of guests would love to go to Carib Fest, but they don't want to find AMORSA and RICS taxis, they want to ride in a Bay Islands Beach Resort van with one of our staff who can guide them around. Remember, the original comment was about marketing to locals - Roatan islanders. For purposes of this event, I think this should include the many guests, mainly from North America, who come to the Roatan resorts for a week or so to dive, snorkel, do the jungle canopy, shark dive, iguana farm and the Carib Fest. If your goal is to get attendance up, (I understand it could have been better), let us help bring the people. Once again, I'm not trying to be critical. I think this year's Carib Fest was a big success and was enjoyed by everyone. I congratulate everyone who made it so much fun. I'm simply making a constructive suggestion that I think can make it even better attended next time. Ted O'Brien Bay Islands Beach Resort "Dive the Famous Spooky Channel" www.bibr.com escape.....com 1-800-4-ROATAN --- Ana Svoboda wrote: > Dear Ted, > > We are glad people who attended had a good time. I > had posted on this chat > room (7/20 & 7/21) all the information that I had on > hand including prices. > It was also being announced on the local radios > (107.1 & 107.7) for about a > month so there was plenty of publicity. I had also > given flyers around the > island in different locations to hand out to people. > Also IHT had full page > ads in Spanish running every day in La Prensa and La > Tribuna newspapers. La > Tribuna doesn't come here but La Prensa does every > day. Honduras This Week > also ran the ads for some weeks. > > There was organized transportation by: AMORSA & RICS > taxis identify by a > yellow magnetic sign and they also had a rate sheet > for the days of the > festival. > > Stations were set up at the Airport, Eldon's, > Petrosun and at Pura Vida with > the information about free shuttles from West Bay > and West End, the > organized transportation and the list and times of > the bands that were > playing. Sale of tickets was also done at these > locations. > > Sorry to hear that some people didn't hear about it > even though it was > announced. I know that it was marketed in Central > America before being done > here. So maybe it will be a learning experience for > the organizers. All your > comments are being sent to them. > > Regards, > > Ana Svoboda > Executive Director > CANATURH-BAY ISLANDS > Honduras National Chamber of Tourism-The Bay Islands > Chapter > Roatan, Honduras, C.A. > Tel. (504) 445-1688 > Fax (504) 445-1969 > Cell (504) 995-1943 > gsindustries.....hn > http://www.canaturh-bayislands.org > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ted OBrien" > To: > Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 1:11 PM > Subject: Re: [roatan] Carib Fest > > > > I agree with Dian. This great event could have > been > > better marketed to Roatan. > > > > Few islanders that I talked to knew anything about > > Carib Fest until a few days before it happened. > Then > > they had only a little information, mostly from > rumor, > > and a lot of misinformation, particularly about > the > > entry price(s). > > > > Bay Islands Beach Resort had several guests go by > > themselves and they had a great time. They came > back > > raving. > > > > It was a shame that the producers didn't come to > us, > > and, of course, all the hotels, resorts, inns, > lodges > > where lots of people stay, weeks before the event, > > with an advance package of information and > promotional > > material. Special pricing and/or the customary > > industry commissions would have been an added > > incentive to send people to Carib Fest. > > > > We could have sold the hell out of this event. We > > could have run vans or buses back and forth (so > our > > guests would get ripped off by the taxis, as was > > mentioned by someone earlier). We had a few people > who > > were chicken to go on their own but would have > loved > > to go on a resort sponsored trip. > > > > I'm sure this great event will better attended and > > much improved in a lot ways as a result of the > lessons > > learned this year. But don't get me wrong, an > awful > > lot was also done right and the promoters should > be > > congratulated on a job well done. > > > > Ted O'Brien > > Bay Islands Beach Resort > > "Dive the Famous Spooky Channel" > > www.bibr.com > > escape.....com > > 1-800-4-ROATAN > > > > > > _______ Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs http://www.roatanet.com To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/roatan/ roatan- : | |
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