Government Information Service

by Emmanuel H. Joseph
Government Information Service

The Discover Dominica Authority - DDA, as part of a major campaign to sensitise the general public on the work of the entity, on Tuesday, 26th May, 2009 held a “Meet and Greet Forum” where top officials from the Department met with members of the media to update them on the work of the Authority over the past twelve (12) months.

Kathleen Cuffy, Head of the Product Development Unit of the Authority, said that her Department is placing great emphasis on the implementation of several aspects of the Tourism Master Plan which was recently approved for Dominica. That Department is focused primarily on bringing increased visitors to the island and to increase visitor expenditure on the island.

According to Cuffy, much attention is being placed on special niche areas including health and wellness, Dominica’s wedding and honeymoon market and to a lesser extent, Yachting. These came as a result of consultancies conducted and recommendations received are being looked at by staff of the Discover Dominica Authority and other key stake holders. She further said that all these are in keeping with the Tourism plan approved for Dominica.

Head of Marketing at the DDA, Elizabeth Wayland, disclosed that several efforts have been made to increase the number of visitors to the island through a number of different mediums. As a result, there has been increased sensitisation where Dominica has already begun to reap significant benefits especially in public relations value amounting to millions.

“We looked at our key markets which are the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Germany, France and the French West Indies and other English speaking Caribbean islands. As a result, we have developed a marketing mix, so to speak, that we use to market in these various areas. Our marketing mix includes e-marketing, print advertising, press trips, trade shows and public relations.

Our e-marketing campaign stated in mid December of 2008 and has since driven the number of visitors to our website (http://www.discoverdominica.com) From July 2008 to the present, we have seen over a quarter million (250 000) visitors to our website, so that is encouraging. For our public relations done in collaboration with our Public Relations firm in New York for 2008, we had Dominica mentioned and also articles on Dominica appearing, a combination of the both in a total of one hundred and two (102) print articles and on the web, fifty-six (56) web media presence. That gives an advertising value of (meaning, if Dominica had to spend money on advertising and public relations, it would amount to) two point five million US dollars (USD$2 500 000.00) and public relations value of US eight point seven million dollars (USD$8 700 000.00).”

In the meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of Discover Dominica Authority and Director of Tourism, Colin Piper, took the time off to sound a serious note of caution to members of the media. He strongly urged them to be careful with the content of the material that they put out. He firmly admonished them to work closely with the Authority that the proper spin can be placed on even unfortunate events.

“We need to, in matters of importance for the country where an unfortunate incident can paint a bad picture. We need to work with the press to sensitise you all so that you can sensitise the public as well. I say that because from a public relations stand point, that is what we want to pay attention to. What I want to say is that we are going to be accessible to the press. We are going to give you all the information that you all need to do your jobs because you do a great job in sensitising the public out there but we want to help you understand what negative messages can mean to the island and the work that we have to do to try to present spin. I am not saying do not do your job; I am saying just try and work with us to put the right spin on the content.”

The Discover Dominica Authority was established by an act of Parliament on May 2nd, 2007 but began actual operations on August 1st, 2007 after the then National Development Cooperation was split into two entities, the Discover Dominica Authority and the Invest Dominica Authority. Its mandate is to formulate and execute policies and programmes as it relates to tourism in Dominica.