This marketing concept, “marketing is everybody’s business,” was developed to capture
these groups of individuals, namely: St. Lucian Nationals who are students; St. Lucian
entrepreneurs and various classification of St. Lucian workers, for the purpose of
marketing hotels and other products owned and operated by St. Lucians on the island.
These hotels and other products have been branded “Gems of St. Lucia” for the purpose
of distinguishing them from other non Gems products. As a result of this new concept,
the island will enjoy increased visitor arrival from non-traditional markets, thereby
maintaining a healthy dollar/guest ratio in the short and long term.

St. Lucian Nationals who are students:

The presence of Caribbean students attending Universities and Colleges throughout the
United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom and other regions, represent
a source of potential contributors to the island’s tourism products, both in the areas of
personal selling and the development of a marketing segment, the student population.
These students’ presence, accent and excellent academic performances will be used
effectively to promote the “Gems of St. Lucia” (which will be the name brand for hotels
participating in this venture).

• Send a student to St. Lucia

The non-St. Lucian student populations attending universities and colleges globally
represent a large market segment that has been untapped. This segment has
tremendous potential both in the short term and the long term because these students
travel to satisfy their historical, cultural, sensual delight, ethnic, recreational, social
and interpersonal curiosities. Whereas some of these students are operating on tight
budgets others have access to disposable income which is being utilized to satisfy
their curiosities.

The non-St. Lucian students who possess the disposable income to travel currently
will bring about benefits, in the short-term, to St. Lucia’s tourism industry through
their purchase of a vacation to the island. As a result, they will be vigorously
marketed through “word of mouth” by student marketing consultants.

This strategy is creative and has the potential of transforming St. Lucia into a 21st.
century leading vacation spot for students globally. This system will be managed by
an effective network aimed at coordinating the activities of the various St. Lucian
student bodies. This coordination will be driven through the use of technology,
promotional material and motivation.

• Send a Professor to St. Lucia

St. Lucian students have consistently demonstrated excellent performances in the
academic fields and in varsities. These performances have earned them respect,
admiration and support from their professors. Therefore, these impressions will be
used as effective marketing tools for the promotion of the “Gem of St. Lucia.”

The students should also use the accomplishments of our two Nobel Laureates, Sir
Arthur Lewis, Economics, and Hon. Deryck Walcott, Literature, to raise the curiosity
of their professors to the island. The St. Lucian students should challenge their
professors to analyze the achievements of these two Nobel Laureates by inviting them
to visit St. Lucia.

The St. Lucian students should also promote the island as an environmentally
friendly place which is populated by nationals who are well informed, very polite and
communicates easily.

St. Lucian entrepreneurs

St. Lucian entrepreneurs will be invited to participate in the promotion of the Gems of St.
Lucia, as this will also enhance their businesses, by using the island’s tourism products as
gifts and incentives to their clientele.

The island will benefit directly from the efforts of these entrepreneurs as they
promote the island to members of different business organizations in which they hold
membership. These members will be encouraged to use the island’s conference, banquet
and seminar facilities, thereby promoting a wider range of the island’s tourism products.

St. Lucian workers

St. Lucian employees will play a major role in raising the level of awareness of
the “Gems of St. Lucia” to their specific market segments. This marketing group will be
distinctly divided into the following groups: construction workers, home attendants and
other professionals.

• Construction workers

The construction worker represents a mobile group of marketing consultants who
travel from one part of their region to another on a daily basis. As a result, they are
positioned to sell the island’s products through the use of fliers, brochures, “talk” and
their excellent workmanship.

• Home attendants

The home attendants have access to an affluent market segment which includes
business executives. These business executives will be made aware of the existence
of St. Lucia and also the “Gems of St. Lucia.”

• Other professionals

These professionals need to be convinced that they can contribute to the development
of the island through their contribution to the tourism industry. They are trained and
exposed to a wide network of potential visitors to the island. In addition, they are
tech savvy and are members of prestigious organizations which represent a strategic
market for the Gems of St. Lucia. However, they need to be motivated to participate
in this initiative.

This marketing concept, “marketing is everybody’s business,” is being introduced at
a period when the global economic crisis has never been so bleak for this generation.
This period also represents an opportunity for us to combine our expertise to promote
the Gems of St. Lucia for the purpose of generating opportunities for St. Lucia and its
people.

Advertising

The advertising strategies that will be used to promote the “Gems of St. Lucia”
will capture and hold the attention of the global travel market. This will lead to an
examination of the standardization of advertising messages and not promotion in its
entirety.

The “Gems of St. Lucia” will communicate using humor, contrast and surprise to capture
and hold the attention of the global travel market. However, careful attention will be paid
to the effects that these different communication formats will have on different cultures
globally.

The increase in international communication and entertainment has created an audience
supportive of the idea of commonality in international ad campaigns. As a result,
the “Gems of St. Lucia” may use basically the same appeals, theme, copy and layout in
all or most of its advertising.

The promotional mix

The promotional mix used by the “Gems of St. Lucia” will represent a combination of
personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, public relations and publicity. The design
of the promotional mix will involve a number of strategic decisions.

• Target mix
The target market in the United States is culturally diverse and will be affected by the
variables affecting the choice of promotional method. The “Gems of St. Lucia” will
determine through research, market testing and meetings with industry experts, the
readiness of prospects in the market to buy.

The “Gems of St. Lucia” will increase the awareness of the market to the existence
of the “Gems of St. Lucia.” The objective of this awareness stage will be to build
familiarity with the “Gems of St. Lucia” through its brand name.

The awareness stage will be followed by a period of knowledge where the market will
be informed of the product’s features. This will require the use of symbols and brand
names for the “Gems of St. Lucia.”

The challenge facing the “Gems of St. Lucia” involves distinguishing among brands
such that the market prefers the “Gems of St. Lucia.” This process of creating
preference involves ads that make direct comparisons with the competition. This
will involve highlighting the strengths of the “Gems of St. Lucia” against that of its
competitors.

Inexpensive promotional mix

The traditional marketing strategies are expensive and often unproductive. St. Lucia
cannot match the financial resources which its competitors are able to redirect on
marketing their tourism products. Further, St. Lucia’s competitors are able to redirect
huge amounts of funds toward human resource development of their nationals
which has resulted in networking opportunities for their economies and their people.
Therefore, St. Lucia must maintain its visibility in the global market through the use
of inexpensive strategies for marketing its tourism products.

Operational plan

The operational plan which will be used by the “Gems of St. Lucia” will change the
marketing game plan from a periodic marketing strategy to a dynamic marketing
plan being executed throughout the entire year in the form of a marketing process.
This plan will utilize the non-mainstream media in the market place to promote St.
Lucia as a prime tourism destination. This media segment will include Trade Union
Newspapers, Farming News, Ethnic Newspapers (Italians, Greek, Chinese, and
Indians), Religious Bulletins and other Business Newspapers. Further, the “Gems of
St. Lucia” will use the services of thousands of non-mainstream radio and television
stations where advertising can be obtained freely or inexpensively. This will allow
the “Gems of St. Lucia” to market intimately to the various market segments.

The “Gems of St. Lucia” will broaden its marketing thrust through membership
in the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), United States Tour Operators
Association (USTOA), and the Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA).

The operations of the “Gems of St. Lucia” will be driven by the Central Processing
House which will be responsible for processing clients’ requests and closing the sale.
The individual and group marketing consultants will be responsible for covering
certain geographical areas and specific areas within that segment. They will be
provided with marketing tools with the business cards being the most important tool.
Their names, the company’s name and logo, addresses, telephone numbers of both
the company and the marketing consultant, e-mail addresses, web-site and a personal
code will be printed on the cards. These business cards will be left with the prospect
at the point of initial contact with special emphasis being placed on the marketing
consultant’s code.

The prospect will use the card to call the Central Processing House for more product
information and also to book a vacation. The internal consultant will have the
responsibility for closing the sale.

The rewards to the marketing consultant will be triggered once the consultant or
his/her proxy travels to St. Lucia. It will take the form of complimentary nights at
the “Gems of St. Lucia” or discounts on airline tickets.

The marketing consultants will also be supported by a detailed internet-site. The
advantage of the internet is that it never closes. The internet will tangibilize the
products of the Gems of St. Lucia through the use of color photos and videos. The
internet will also be updated frequently, creating interests and giving prospects
a reason to return. The prospective traveler will be able to purchase a vacation
through the internet and if he/she was referred to the site by a marketing consultant,
provisions will be made for entering the consultant’s code for identification and
reward.

The marketing consultants will further be motivated through the organization of
marketing blitz on Time Square and major shopping areas, colleges and universities
campuses and street fairs. These consultants will also be provided with stickers. In
addition, stickers will be placed at major corporations and shopping centers and also
on the interior part of the doors in rest rooms. The “Gems of St. Lucia” will sponsor
events and use the cinemas to advertise. This concept is designed to market the
products of the Gems of St. Lucia to a market divided in segments of “one.”