by Eulana Weekes
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The CEO of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Ellison “Tommy” Thompson, Chairperson of the St. Kitts Tourism Board Ermelin Sebastian-Duggins and UK Marketing Consultant, Lisa Elmes-Bosshard formed part of a delegation to the United Kingdom for a week-long roadshow.
The roadshow formed part of the series of events under the Venture Deeper Campaign that took effect in September 2022. It entailed travel trade, media coverage and influencer events.
According to Kittitian Heartbeat on Facebook, “A culminating event in the series was the exclusive rum cocktail-making masterclass held at London’s Trailer Happiness; an iconic rum lounge. Hosted by the UK social media team, the special event boasted 16 of the UK’s leading travel and foodie influencers. Guests were invited to create cocktails from the lauded St. Kitts Cocktail Guide, enjoy delectable Kittitian cuisine and participate in a vibrant social media contest. Attendees battled it out all night with hopes of winning the coveted top prize: an exclusive spot on our upcoming 2024 influencer trip.”
A Global Rum Ambassador, Ian Burrell, and Trailer Happiness’ owner, Sly Augustine judged the competition for the best cocktails.
The Tourism delegates also hosted a luncheon in London with United Kingdom Travel Journalists, where they highlighted the latest Tourism news and developments in St. Kitts and discussed travel opportunities to the island.
Speaking at the Tourism Press Conference on October 26, 2023, CEO “Tommy” Thompson said St. Kitts has managed to expand passenger arrivals from the UK market in recent months.
“When we did our review last year, when I took up the post of CEO, we took a look at all the markets and when we did an in depth research on the UK market, it was obvious that St. Kitts was pretty much invisible. So, we had to look at how we were going to position the UK in terms of our marketing and the dollars spent. So we did a complete review as to the positioning of St. Kitts [and] where it was in the UK market. We also found that there was only basic advertising with British Airways Holidays. There was no destination marketing as such and there was very limited Public Relations (PR) or social media.”
