Potential travelers to the U.S. Virgin Islands have a new mindset: “NeoFrugalChic.”
That’s according to Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty, who spoke Tuesday at the territory’s 18th annual Destination Symposium held at the Westin Resort and Villas.
“NeoFrugalChic” means that visitors want value for their money and take pride in finding the best deals, according to Nicholson-Doty.
The internet is leading the charge when it comes to helping visitors achieve this goal, and Nicholson-Doty said the department is responding to that situation through its social media efforts.
Brad Laney of MBooth and Associates, which holds the department’s public relations contract, said one-third of people booking trips depend on reviews and recommendations when picking a destination.
“It’s important the destination is out there with a positive voice,” he said.
A total of 115 people registered to attend the five-day symposium, with events held on St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix. V.I. Hotel and Tourism Association President Lisa Hamilton put the cost of the event at about $100,000 with the participants paying for their airfare, and sponsors funding hotel stays, transportation, meals, and activities.
The symposium brings together mainly companies that sell packages to the Virgin Islands with Tourism Department officials and their advertising and marketing contractors. The symposium includes site inspections of the many of the island’s hotels and also tours and individual meetings with the travel companies’ representatives.
The number-one impediment to travel is the high cost of airfare, a result of high fuel prices, and Nicholson-Doty said that travelers are now willing to be slightly inconvenienced when it comes to planning their route to save some money. She said that a recent promotion that included a $500 airfare credit was a result of high airfare issues.
While Nicholson-Doty was clear that the poor economy continues to impact the number of visitors coming to the territory, she said that the department has fine-tuned its research to the point where it’s able to selectively market the territory in areas and at times of the year when potential visitors want to travel.
She said that 93 percent of visitors come from the U.S. mainland.
Later, in response to a question, she said that while only about 2,000 visitors come from Italy, it was important to maintain a presence there because those visitors stay for about two weeks at upscale hotels.
Doty also touched on the department’s efforts to improve how residents treat tourists they encounter. She said the territory has an aggressive training program coupled with an advertising campaign to help improve this aspect of the territory’s tourism product.
“If people come here and don’t have a good experience …,” she said, inferring that politeness will help convert first-time visitors into repeat customers.
She showed two clips: one of a hotel front desk clerk and the other of a taxi driver. Initially, the clerk and the taxi driver were rude, but in the next sequence, were gracious and welcoming—an attitude required for the continued success of V.I. tourism.
