Building trust with travelers is a must for the Caribbean’s comeback story

As travel takes baby steps towards recovery, Caribbean countries can’t rely on constant growth as a measure of success. Celebrating each country’s unique identity, and developing authentic experiences that give travelers deep connections and visceral memories will create lifelong bonds. Listen to travel marketing entrepreneurs Matt Cooper and Guido Salvatori share how this strategy amplifies tourism in a more sustainable way.

Contributors

Zach Stovall
Senior Creative Strategist, Flip.to

Guido Salvatori
Travel Entrepreneur, and Founder of Connectivity Matter

Matt Cooper
Founder/CEO, Travel Culture Collab, & experienced destination marketer for the Caribbean

Transcript

Zach Stovall: Today I’m excited to have not one, but two of my favorite industry friends on the show. Two international men of mystery, Guido Salvatori and Matt Cooper. Guido, Matt, thanks for being here, gentlemen.

Guido is a Miami-based travel entrepreneur and Founder of Connectivity Matter, a company helping hotels take a holistic approach towards their tech stacks and channel mix. Guido is also the new Vice President of Growth and Partnerships for hotel marketing platform, Flip.to. Guido was telling me yesterday how much he enjoys drinking teas that are both expensive and taste like rotting fish.

Our other guest today is Matt Cooper, who, if you’ve worked in the Caribbean for any amount of time, you probably know as the former Chief Marketing Officer for the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association. Matt’s had a long career in publishing, specifically focused on travel. He’s now the Founder and CEO of TravelCultureCollab. The mission is true to the name—building collaborative marketing and sales solutions for the travel and tourism industry. Matt, do you have anything you want to add to that. Interesting bar tricks?

Matt Cooper: No, that sounded pretty good. That’s a good nutshell. We can take it from there for sure.

Zach: Today we’re talking about a subject close to my heart – the Caribbean. I built my career traveling to most of the islands in the region, photographing and writing for Caribbean Travel + Life magazine and then Islands magazine. It’s a place that’s easy to fall in love with, not only for its incredible beauty, but for its easy-going people, and vibrant lifestyle. But now, suddenly, somebody stopped the Carnival.

And like many destinations it’s going through a bit of an existential crisis right now. What is it going to look like on the other side of this pandemic? We all want to see a time when we’re packed into the Soggy Dollar again, but the reality is that still may be a ways off. And we have to understand that some things are just going to be different, and that difference might be in the travelers themselves. The reasons they travel and the experiences they seek may very well change.

So, Guido, what does that mean for Caribbean destinations and hoteliers? How does this fun-loving, carefree region wine its way back to the regular Soca tempo?

Guido Salvatori: I think to answer that we gotta focus on really what’s that true intent of the travel, and not to go too deep, but really for me that intent – it’s not about a hotel room, it’s not the actual destination. It’s really about life enriching experiences. It’s bringing the traveler closer to themselves, and these experiences that help them learn and grow. Sure, the hotel and destinations are key components or actors in that experience. But it’s not that core motivation of the traveler. The traveler’s thinking either, “I want to blow off steam, I need to reconnect with myself, I need to get away, I need to disconnect.” And that’s really where we tap into what’s that true intent or what’s that motivation?

I know with everything going on with Covid, people will start saying travel is discretionary. For me, I think travel is just as discretionary as attending school. Now, you don’t have to travel 8,000 miles, but it is part of that human process to evolve, grow, learn.

Zach: Yeah, absolutely. Travel has just been going nuts up until this year. That’s been true of the Caribbean. The Caribbean has just seen incredible growth. Matt, why don’t you tell us about that.

Matt: Yeah, it’s certainly true. We’ve seen record numbers of growth in the travel and tourism industry in every direction. Whether that’s international short-haul to longer haul travel from new source markets like China, and other points in Asia. The growth in all-inclusive and home rentals market and everything in between. The development to accommodate what seemed like a foregone future for an ever-expanding movement of travel, right? We saw more people traveling than ever for more reasons than ever. Consumption at an all-time high. Development in every direction of the accommodations sector. Bigger cruise ships to accommodate more amenities and things to recreate land-based destinations. Let’s face it, it’s luxury shopping, it’s micro-brews, it’s swanky steak houses, it’s all of that experience that somebody would expect from a land-based experience, but we’re seeing that in cruise ships more than ever. So who’s got the biggest ship in the sea?

Caribbean culture is built around liming – enjoying the company of friends, usually over a drink. A good lime happens daily at hangs like Sandbar on Grand Turk, where it's easy to meet locals and connect deeper with the place. (photo: Zach Stovall)

We saw some of the negative impact of that as well. It’s great to have more travelers to more destinations, especially in places like the Caribbean where it’s the number one driver of many, many economies and certainly the number one source of employment in the region. But that came at a cost, where we saw almost an overdevelopment some places of the all-inclusive product. Certainly a commoditization of it, so more proliferation of brands of all-inclusives. Sort of a very competitive landscape more than ever. And created a sea of sameness, where there’s a lot of rooms and people just don’t leave the four walls of the hotel very much anyway. And so we saw expansion of resort development in the luxury set, of course, and the sharing economies. More air coming in from more places. And it just seemed like the only way to sustain this economic model was through expansion.

Zach: Just build bigger hotels, and bigger ships and pack more people in.

Matt: That’s it. That’s it. And so, come mid-March when travel stood-still all of that kind of came to a screeching halt, and gave us a lot more space to think about this development and the future of it.

Guido: Right, when your only playbook is one segment, and it’s been just growth and expansion, you sometimes need to sometimes pause and think, “okay, how are we growing, and how is this evolving?” And unfortunately I think Covid has forced that freeze, and now we’re kind of in a situation where other destinations, they have their drive market, and they’ve been able to weather the storm a little bit. And now these Caribbean islands are really realizing how dependent they were with the cruise ships coming in and the flights coming in and not being able to pivot. They’re also seeing a breakdown in communication. You’d think we’d see this year after every hurricane season, you’d see the entire Caribbean region being impacted when really a hurricane came in and maybe was only affecting a few islands.

So we haven’t been able to manage that during the hurricane season, and now with Covid, we’re really seeing each island being blanketed under the Caribbean situation, when really each island in itself is managing it under different politics, under different constraints, and are in completely different scenarios.

So, really seeing that impact of Covid and kind of catching what has been years of growth off of that tourism, like you were saying, Matt, with expanding to the sharing economy. It was still based off of one fundamental model: getting tourists shipped in or flown in for that beach experience.

Conch is served at every resort and restaurant in Providenciales, but the Turks and Caicos' prized catch somehow tastes sweeter from authentic rum bar, da Conch Shack, where it's been plucked straight from the sea and served by a lively staff with toes in the sand. (photo: Zach Stovall)

Zach: So, Matt, most people have been sitting at their houses or taking short trips to a drive market. They’re anxious to get back into the world and explore. We’re going reach a point – hopefully in the near future – where those people are going to get on a plane, they’re going to get on a boat, and they’re going to go somewhere. The pent-up demand is palpable at this point. Is the traveler the Caribbean knows going to be the same?

Matt: Yeah, I think that’s the silver lining that we have to really keep both eyes on is the realization throughout this whole experience of 2020 and all its trappings is that there is a tremendously pent-up demand for travel. This is a public that in most of the developed world that has treated travel like a birthright. It’s something that’s sort of engrained in your desire to escape or to see new things and go someplace other than your home. When people are forced to stay close and fear for their health and safety, they’re looking forward to that light at the end of the tunnel, and this news about the proliferation of a vaccine is all the great news that the travel industry needs to see.

We’re going to see a similar profile. We already are seeing a similar profile of travelers. Mexico is a huge benefactor of. Mexico’s receiving a lot of travel. So we’re seeing Cancun and Cabo airport more popular than ever. I saw a report that said Cancun airport has been ranked the busiest airport in the world during Covid. And that’s for a reason. That’s mostly to accommodate leisure travel. So cruisers are going to come back. I think the cruise industry has taken all kinds of feelings of pulse for their travelers. The cruisers are going to come back strong. We’re going to see a lot of people cruising again once it’s okay to do so.

The fan of the all-inclusive is going to keep continuing to enjoy the all-inclusive. But we’ve seen an evolution in the traveler too. And really asking about what more there can be in their travel experience beyond sun, sea, sand and surf. And beyond the amenities that they enjoy at the hotel. What is it that’s going to drive this unique and perhaps transformative experience that’s not on the main road?

It’s something unique. It’s something culturally enriching, and perhaps off the beaten trail. Folks are looking for more wide-open spaces, of course. There is a huge notion of an element of outdoors in somebody’s future travel experience that they’re dreaming about or even booking. Back to nature – spaces to breathe and create space. Wide open spaces in the outdoors as a form of therapy. And that certainly includes uncrowded beaches and big skies and forests and waterfalls that we see in the Caribbean. That paints a picture, right?

So we’ll see the same sort of profile of traveler, but I think there’s going to be some caution. There is a lot of caution being exercised now. But certainly a seeker of new experiences.

Guido: I think Matt, to that point, I think we all agree travel will come back. We know that it’s ingrained in who we are. But we have to realize that the travelers coming back, even though it’s the same person, they’ve gone through this life-changing experience, and they’re going to come back with a different mindset.

And I think that’s this challenge that we’re facing. How do you interact with that same customer that’s gone through this experience, and what do we need to change? And what in terms of that position of the islands in terms of taking them in. Now that experience that they’re seeking it’s shifted. Maybe they’re staying longer. Maybe they’re seeking, like you said, wider spaces. We have to play this a little bit differently. I think as a destination, as the identity of the Caribbean islands, I think this is really going to come into play in terms of how do they connect with who they are and how that traveler is coming in.

Matt: Yeah, and the desire for more personalized experiences, too. By default, just looking at the transfers to the hotel and back to the airport, are going to be much more of a private experience. Regardless if somebody’s checking into a private apartment or in a hotel, they’re going to want to feel like their experience is more privatized.

Guido: It’s not just the privatized, they’re also thinking “why am I traveling? Why am I traveling to this specific Caribbean island?” And I think that goes to what you’re saying with the identity. And I think this is where some work sometimes needs to be done in terms of that specific destination. Does that destination have an identity, and we’re just not tapping into it? Or is there work in terms of the destination forming its identity so that allows the hotels and the guests to be able to connect to that overarching story and that experience that they’re seeking. And traveling now to the island and being able to incorporate that.

Benny holds a juvenile loggerhead turtle at the Cayman Turtle Farm, which breeds turtles to keep a healthy population around Grand Cayman, and educates visitors about their importance. (photo: Zach Stovall)

Zach: I think all of the countries in the Caribbean are in the same boat right now. But the reality is that all of these countries are so remarkably different from one another. You can really see that in a place like St. Maarten. It’s right there – it’s this hub of its area, and it has an ease of access to get to all of these islands. But St. Maarten is very big and it’s very dense, and there’s a lot of nightlife and activity. But then you look at a place like Anguilla who’s just a stone’s throw away. It’s a polar opposite type of destination that’s very low density. Beautiful boutique hotels; just a slow life. And also in that same neighborhood you’ve got St. Barts, which has this massive French influence that feels like you’re in Paris, but on an island.

You really have to find a way for all of these different islands to embrace what they have and show that they’re different and show that it’s not just another beach and another fruity drink.

Matt: Yeah, I think that’s historically been the challenge in the region, too. Is for the destinations within the same neighborhood to really differentiate themselves, and tell their own story. And find that story and be able to drive an emotional connect to those who are considering traveling there or who have traveled there, and can now come back with these stories of what this experience meant to them. And as we know word of mouth and social media is by far the most effective form of promotion. So really getting that story right is very important.

I feel like the region could do better at it. There are some players that do a very good job of it. But even a major destination like Jamaica, which has a pretty mature tourism infrastructure, but has been reliant, for the most part, on an all-inclusive sector, and really just getting behind the story of the culture and talking about things that are off the beaten trail.

Guido: But, Matt, who should be telling that story?

Matt: It’s got to be a community effort. It has to be a collaborative effort. It has to come from efforts of government and education, and certainly from the private sector – hospitality, community that needs to deliver that story.

Guido: But think about why do you need to tell that story? What’s the motive behind the story? Do you think that’s going to create a deeper connection with a guest traveling to the island? Do you think that opens the island up for a broader customer base?

Matt: I think it definitely broadens the pool of prospects, right? For right now, because of the state of the world, proximity is the Caribbean’s friend. And it has been forever, right? But even more so now. The fact that you can get there in a shorter time with less hassle than you can longer haul destinations. There were a lot of people who were adept at experiencing, or sought to experience more exotic climes, like beaches in Africa and Asia. Like the safari type experience where that might not be a realistic item on the bucket list for the very short-term future, or even medium term. So the Caribbean has a tremendous opportunity here to be a pivot point for these travelers in their decision making process; in their dreaming about a destination. And perhaps if that story is out there about the broader culture, about the differentiation between English, Spanish, French, Dutch, American islands. And all of the cultural trappings that come with that – the language, the food, the music, the dance, the art. There is a growing number of travelers or would-be travelers who are looking for that deeper story, and wanting to have a part of that narrative to bring back with them.

Guido: I think about once we have that story, that narrative, in terms of executing that, right? I see that as sort of this collaboration between the destinations and hotels and thinking about that experience even before the traveler left their home.

I think sometimes that enables that experience to become richer. So really, that story that we started to talk about identifying, and making it compelling, and making that connection to motivate the experience that they’re seeking and now how do we execute it? How to weave that local story, that narrative, the inspiration? You know, make it more personalization, from even before they’ve left their homes getting that excitement. Communicating that out their network of friends. Until all the way that they arrive at the destination. And really when they’re at the destination, it kind of makes me think about are they just going there, and once they book their ticket is the work of the hotel and the destinations done? Or now is that when really it kicks in and we get into this concept of are we selling the reservation, the hotel, or are we selling time. And if we are thinking about they’re coming and spending time at the destination or at the hotel, we talk about how do you then operate if you are selling time?

Matt: Time goes hand in hand with trust as well. You’re selling your credibility. You’re selling to a public who has been through what we’ve been through in 2020. There needs to be a sense of being able to trust the journey before the journey begins. The journey begins when the traveler starts to dream about where they’re traveling. So becoming part of that narrative closer to the top of the experience can just equal to a much more enriching and engaging experience for that traveler throughout the experience.

Being able to start to take some kind of control or initiative of the narrative in sending something ahead of the journey.

Guido: Like a pre-stay email?

Matt: Well, even better than that. If you want to invest a little bit more, and send something physically to somebody’s address ahead of time. Whether that’s a maraca or a homemade knitted item.

Zach: Something that sort of makes them really want to be there. Something that ties them in with the destination that really gets their senses loaded.

Matt: Yeah, or even in some of these destinations, where they have a very rich cultural heritage story in music, sending a playlist of your favorite Jamaican tunes.

Zach: Oh, that’s a really good one! That’s so easy and free to do.

Matt: Yeah, whatever it is. There’s so much of a rich story in music, and the thing I like about music as an integral tool or item or component of marketing is that it has such a primal connect. It has such a deep sensory connect to people, especially people who enjoy some form of music and the formation of sense memory. And really, I think that’s what a travel experience does is create sense memory. So if you’re sort of creating that; you’re taking an active role in creating that sense memory, I think it just means so much more at the end of it.

Zach: It deepens the experience, yeah. I mean, I think about times I’ve gone to Jamaica and stayed at a really awesome beachfront place, where the windows are open and the breeze is blowing through. But one of the things that really sealed it for me is that they had a reggae playlist and it was already playing when I walked into the room. So it just set the mood immediately, and then I left that thing on even when I slept. Because it made me feel so much more like I was in Jamaica.

The Rasta Village in Montego Bay is a working village, which receives visitors who learn about Rastafari culture, sampling ital food, and interacting with members of the village, like Eddie. (photo: Zach Stovall)

Guido: But I think you say Jamaica, and I can actually see myself listening to that. But then you have other islands with strong Carnival ties - Barbados. And so I think it’s not just unique to Jamaica, and I think that’s the identity where these Caribbean islands need to really work and understand and then position it so that it gets to the guest and they can establish that. Whether it’s a steel drum or it’s another component, but it’s taking the identity and making it tangible. And it’s weaving in the guest experience with that identity and that sense of belonging. And while they’re in the destination, how they’re going to be occupying that time. So I think we’re kind of touching on some of these different touch points in terms of post-Covid we’re seeing this richer experiences base that’s motivating these travelers that – we said before – maybe now they’re thinking a little bit, they’re staying closer to home and they’re seeing individual Caribbean islands being their escape to the Netherlands or St. Barts and you’re getting a taste of France. There’s all this opportunity if we can find that right chord and then tie it together. And that gets the hotels working in conjunction, the local community working with their destinations, and I think that’s what’s getting me really excited about the future for the Caribbean and where things are going.

Matt: I think I’ve seen just a very simple example of something that quite literally grows on trees is something that Grenada has put together effectively over time. And even what they offer at trade shows and things like that is pieces of nutmeg. It’s known as The Spice Island. It’s got rainforests. It’s got waterfalls. That smelling of that nutmeg kind of puts me in the place, you know?

Zach: Yeah, they shave it fresh on your rum punch when you’re there. And then you take that home and you make your own rum punch you shave a little bit of that on top. Then you tell your friends, “Hey, I learned this in Grenada. It takes you back every time you drink that rum punch.”

Matt: It’s funny how the beginnings of telling the story of nature and wide-open spaces and rainforests and waterfalls and things starts through your nose, right? That’s that sense memory I was referring to. That tapping into senses as a form of marketing I think can be very effective.

Zach: Absolutely. So, shaping the traveler experience is probably going to be the way forward, and the way destinations and hotels collaborate to help shape their identities, deepen their experiences and make emotional connections is going to make all of the difference in how we attract travelers in a post-pandemic environment. Does that sound right?

Matt: All of that! It’s telling a better story. I mean, how do we engage with that story. That’s it. Is it through the eyes of content creators, of professionals, social media influencers, of press, of user generated concepts - things that people have done during their guest journey. I think it’s all of it. But the idea of shaping it and being somewhat strategic about it could make all of the difference.

Guido: I think if we realize that guests are traveling because they want that experience, and I think if we can tap into that richer experience, we’re going to see a traveler that builds a bond with a specific island. I think you’ll start seeing them spend longer time on the island. I think we get past the idea of coming down for an escape versus building a connection, whether it’s with the local community. But building the roots. I think that’s a shift that the islands start to see, where tourism was the seed that planted its future growth. It really evolves and it becomes part of the community, and the traveler is no longer a guest of the island. The traveler becomes family with the island. And I think that becomes really interesting. I think the Caribbean – each of these islands - has the ability to expand the family that are interacting, and the locals with the tourism. I think we’ll also start to see a shift of mentality with tourism and the local community.

Zach: I think you touched on an interesting point there, Guido. Because you go to so many resorts throughout the Caribbean, and you find employees that have been there for 25 and 30 years, and they develop relationships with some of their long-time guests. People that come back year after year. And they bring their kids, and then their kids have kids, and bring their kids, and you develop this really long-term relationship. And you see that tourism really is everyone’s business at the end of the day. And it’s so important to Caribbean economies that it’s something that has to be shaped and grown, and that family aspect is so critical in that.

Guido: I think it becomes more of an organic growth. Matt was talking about this expansion by just building more, and I think there’s other ways to think of expansion and fueling growth through tourism.

The iridescent waters surrounding Virgin Gorda are an ideal place to learn to sail, and learning a new skill while traveling creates lasting memories. (photo: Zach Stovall)

Matt: Yeah, and really building the infrastructure of tourism from within. Within the context of economic development. That’s really the best, most effective – probably longest road there though – is really to build from within; build that community from within. Build education early of the importance of tourism to the economy. The importance of the local population understanding that when they’re facing somebody who’s visiting their island, a positive experience is going to bring them back much quicker than something that’s less than positive that may have happened to them while they were on that island. So the understanding that this thing is a community builder and a way to sustain community has to be ingrained on every level.

Guido: Right, and it’s only going to happen if we have all of the four actors, right? You have the resorts, you have the destination, you have the community and you have the traveler, the tourism coming in. If the resorts aren’t opening up the doors to the local community, if the resorts and destinations are not working towards this common identity and leveraging it, and if you’re not connecting the travelers with the community, you’re not going to get there.

I think there’s so much potential if we can get all of these four personas together and working in sync, everyone will be better off. The traveler wants to feel like they’re coming home. That they have this connection. And it’s not just a connection with that resort. It expands deeper than that. And I think that connection is fueled by the identity that’s been established on the island with the community and then making the community part of this and having an equal stake. And being really locked in sync. I think this is where the future of the Caribbean islands – and I don’t even want to say the Caribbean – it’s each individual island, starts to develop.

Zach: That’s a really eloquent way to sum it up, Guido. Diversity in the Caribbean is to be celebrated, Every island has its own story, and as destination marketers it’s a matter of bringing those stories to the surface and connecting them to the right travelers. And doing so with authenticity. That way we’re not selling just another beach or just another room. We’re selling a traveler’s time, and filling it with experiences they are eager to take home and share with their families and friends.

Ah, gentlemen. I want to thank both of you for being here and sharing your take on what’s to come in the Caribbean. Matt Cooper of TravelCultureCollab and Guido Salvatori of ConnectivityMatter. YEAHHH! Thanks for giving us another great Thought Starter. If you liked this podcast, be sure to check out some of our other Thought Starters. I’m Zach Stovall for Shape.travel.