From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Bahamas Tourism Launches Agressive Ad Campaign In Canada
By Nikia Deveaux, MOT
Oct 24, 2014 - 2:07:45 PM
Minister of Tourism Obie WIlchombe poses with members of the Canada Bahamas Tourist Office in front of an impressive Bahamas ad on the concourse digital monitors at the Air Canada Center in Toronto, Canada.
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TORONTO, Canada - The
Bahamas Ministry of Tourism (BMOT) hopes to further infiltrate the Canadian
market with the launch of an aggressive media campaign to promote The Islands
of The Bahamas brand and several direct flights into the archipelago.
The campaign comes just in time to support the introduction
of two new Sunwing Airlines direct flights into Grand Bahama from Calgary and
Vancouver beginning November 1, 2014, bringing the airline’s total number of
Canadian cities with direct flights to The Bahamas to eight.
BMOT also wants to promote Air Canada’s direct flights to
Exuma and Nassau, and West Jet’s non-stop service to the capital.
“It is really important that we market aggressively to the
Canadian consumer and the travel trade to let them know that all of this
inventory is available to The Bahamas from Canada,” said Deputy Director
General Ellison Thompson.
The campaign began on October 21, 2014 when the Behold
television advertisement aired for the first time in Canada during an episode
of the popular romance reality television series
The Bachelor Canada.
Eight versions of the ad featuring Bahamian NBA star Rick
Fox and model Shakara Ledard will air on the most watched TV stations in Canada
including: HGTV, Dtour, Showcase, Food Network, Discovery, The Weather Network,
CBC Newsworld, SportsNet, Travel and Escapes, and Cottage Life.
Communications Manager for the Bahamas Tourism Office Canada
Ambrose Morris says, “It’s a national campaign that extends from sea to sea –
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. This is the coming out, so to
speak, of Bahamas television ads in Canada. It has been many years since we
have done that.”
Sunwing is taking The Bahamas brand to eight cities in Canada
with an aircraft wrapped with the Islands of The Bahamas and Grand Bahama
logos.
In Toronto, images of The Bahamas will dominate the Air
Canada Center (ACC) through a 360 monitor display, exterior superboards,
InSuite monitors, and concourse digital monitors throughout the center. The
Bahamas brand will be displayed during all ACC events including the Toronto
Maple Leafs hockey games, and the Toronto Raptors basketball games for the
duration of their seasons.
LEFT: The Islands of The Bahamas Behold Ad will be on display during Toronto Maple Leafs hockey games and Toronto Raptors basketball games at the Air Canada Center in Toronto, Canada.-----TOP RIGHT: Tourism Director General Joy Jibrulu views the Grand Bahama Island Sunwing Airlines mural at Burrard Station in Vancouver.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Hundreds of thousands of commuters in Vancouver will pass two Grand Bahama murals in the subway station.
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Posters of The Islands of The Bahamas also adorn the
interior walls of the Toronto Transit Commission subway. Minister of Tourism
Obie Wilchcombe and a team of tourism officials viewed the ads in Toronto
during the recent Media Blitz.
In Western Canada, two large murals in the Burrard Street
Station in Vancouver entice thousands of TransLink subway commuters to visit
Grand Bahama Island via Sunwing Airlines’ new non-stop flight. Above ground,
the SkyTrain wrapped with The Bahamas logo and imagery will be a moving
advertisement for the country’s brand.
Over in Calgary, Bahamas ads will run every 60 seconds on
digital boards throughout the city for the next 10 weeks.
“As soon as the weather starts to get bad in places like
Canada you have to make sure that your message is where the consumer is going to
be,” Thompson said.
“So for those persons who are commuting in the morning, it’s
cold it’s grey it’s snowy, and they’re already thinking that they need to get
away, then they see these wonderful islands of The Bahamas and we’re there in
front of them saying this is the place you need to go and it’s convenient to
get there.”
The Bahamas Tourist Office in Canada has also launched an
aggressive Social Media campaign complete with Facebook contests and Twitter
parties.
The campaign ends on June 22, 2015.
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