Caribbean News Now!

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad -- A boutique Caribbean publishing house is expanding into new media to combine its traditional skills with emerging online talents.

The Toute Bagai Publishing Company, producers of MACO publications, believes diversifying its product base will better serve the changing needs of regional and international customers.

So what makes the MACO portal - www.macocaribbean.com - different to other online properties promoting Caribbean travel?

Neysha Soodeen, managing director of the Trinidad and Tobago-based company, pointed to their constant loading of fresh information on the site, "unlike those that retain content for two to three years."

"Whatever is hot and happening at that moment will be promoted on that destination's front page ... and we will highlight attractions, unlike others who focus solely on hotels and resorts. This is where we differ, big time," Soodeen exclaimed.

"Initially we will be targeting regional travelers who already know the MACO brand, and will promote shopping, getaway and business travel for example," Soodeen asserted.

Online statistics from portal visitors, she added, will be mined and collated to more efficiently execute extra-regional promotional and partnership strategies.

The fact her company works closely with most Caribbean destinations coupled with interest from its readers for information on Caribbean travel, she contended, served as the impetus for entering the Internet marketing sector.

"We were always called on to play the role of pseudo-travel agent and recommend to our readers where they should go, stay and dine," she recalled.

"However, while the view has been expressed that we should stick to what we do best -- being publishers and not travel agents -- by launching the travel portal we are doing what we know best," she averred.

Toute Bagai launched its new travel portal at the recent Caribbean Marketplace in The Bahamas, which attracted officials from several tourism destinations.

Sooden reported several destinations were receptive to the marketing initiative, and they promised to get on board to increase the visibility of their respective destinations.

To date Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States Virgin Islands are profiled on the portal.

Soodeen and her team are working with Jamaica-based regional marketing specialist Dominique Silvera-Peterkin on the initiative.

"We congratulate the work of Neysha Soodeen and Dominique Silvera-Peterkin, two shining stars in the Caribbean media and marketing world," said Alec Sanguinetti, director general and CEO of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.

"The more channels we have promoting the authenticity, character and charm of the Caribbean the better, and we welcome this brand new initiative," he declared.

Reads: 1935


Tweet