"People Are Not Interested In A Ken And Barbie On The Beach"



November 7th 2005, Aruba



ORANJESTAD-"Burn all promotional brochures, don't make anymore
slogans and don't talk of something you aren't," words of the very
outspoken Peter Greenberg to the participants at the Annual Tourism
Conference of Aruba (ATCA). Greenberg a travel contributor for the NBC
program the Today Show wrote many books about his findings in the
travel industry. Greenberg travels 400,000 miles every year to different
places in the World and is considered a very experienced traveller.


Greenberg strongly criticized promotional brochures of hotels for not
showcasing a true experience to the potential visitor. "Nobody is
interested in a Ken and Barbie on the beach in these times, this is not
the 1980's. People want to view experiences from real people, not of
models in the brochure."

Promotion on the internet is ok says Greenberg but it has to be pure
informative and focused on what people would want to know about the
destination. "No tours in the most luxurious suite of the hotel property, the
majority will not sleep in it. Especially no pop-ups of other commercial
garbage."

The idea of promoting Aruba as a fabulous destination is bad says
Greenberg. Greenberg’s advise is to promote Aruba as a destination that
will grant the traveller an unforgettable experience. That is the only way
Aruba will lead the competition in the region says Greenberg. "You must
show people that they can experience something in Aruba they won't
experience much better at any other destination." Instead of complaining
about attacks, high oil prices and hurricanes, the tourism sector should
focus on things that Aruba has control on. "Promise the people a fantastic
time here on the island, show them how nice it is to be here and what
they can experience."

Greenberg advises against price competition. His experience is that
people would pay much more for a nice time instead of paying less for a
possible downer. "A destination should meet what it promises."

In the global society of today where there is more fear than ever a
destination should try to play a better role by for instance adding security
guards and police. "People are more at ease when there is security
personnel around, it does not matter if it is necessary or not."

Greenberg’s advise to tour operators is to have the compulsory passport
document (a requirement effective for Americans travelling to the
Caribbean as of January 1st 2007) included in the travel package. The
travel agent will then handle the passport request. The client is already
happy as he or she would want to book a vacation without having to worry
about different issues.

Greenberg gave his professional advise to Aruba on the missing teen
Natalee Holloway. He asked tourism officials to ignore the negative press
regarding the case and to focus on what Aruba is good at. Getting
involved on every negative report from the media draws more negative
attention says Greenberg.


Aruba Tourism Authority is very pleased with the ATCA conference. In
the first two days tour operators have presented their plans, strategies
and figures for the coming year. Overall the expectations are positive
eventhough Aruba will lose hundreds of hotel rooms due to renovation.
According to the tour operators Aruba has done very well so far and the
effects of the Holloway affaire are marginal.







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