As anyone who’s been keeping an eye on the travel industry knows, many tourism boards and major travel companies are scrambling to keep people vacationing during the economic downturn — and some of them are getting creative.
Witness the latest campaign from the Barbados tourism authority: The Barbados Perfect Weather Guarantee.
Yup, from May through December, Barbados promises “perfect” weather — defined, specifically, as 78 degrees or higher and less than a quarter inch of rainfall — every day.
If the temperature drops and the skies open up, the tourism authority will cough up a $100 refund for each day of imperfection.
Ingenious move? Marketing gimmick? A bit of both?
Either way, it’s certainly an attention-getting offer.
What do you think? Would a perfect-weather guarantee have you booking a flight? What do you think the tourism industry can do to keep travelers on the road during the recession?
Community Connection:
Recession travel deals, and special offers like this one, are everywhere these days. But there’s more to recession travel than just the chance to save some cash. Be sure to check out Why You Should Travel During the Global Recession.
If you decide to take the Bajans up on their offer, don’t forget to read up on the Best of Barbados.
Photo by jenschapter3 (Creative Commons)
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8 Comments... join the discussion!
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Wow, yeah, that might sway my decision were I considering a Caribbean vacation.
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Or perhaps making travel a little less expensive and commercialized will encourage more people to travel during these times. But then again, that wouldn’t make the big guys any money, now would it?
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Rebecca, I appreciate your point more broadly, but I don’t really consider the Barbados Tourism Authority one of “the big guys.” As Caribbean islands go, Barbados has done a pretty good job of balancing the desires of tourists and the needs/rights of locals. There are *no* private beaches, and plenty of small-scale, locally-owned restaurants and hotels.
Are they cheap? Not compared to the Dominican Republic’s dirt-cheap mega-resorts. But the people here are a lot better off than your average Dominican, thanks in part to the management of a somewhat high-end, partially localized tourism industry.
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Damn, that’s a gamble! Forgive my ignorance, but is Bequia part of Barbados and included in this deal?
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Ha, sadly not, Tim. Bequia is one of the Grenadines, of “Saint Vincent and the” fame. (Glad to see that little island has stayed with you though! I’m hoping to head back there next week…)
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Wow, that’s hysterical? I think it’s a great marketing idea. Not sure if it will backfire, though.
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I think it’s a really neat marketing idea…people go to the Caribbean for the sunshine and this way Barbados is guaranteeing that if customers spend the money, they get compensated if the weather doesn’t cooperate.
the company that Barbados hired to take on all the risk of having to pay out refunds is Weather Bill….www.weatherbill.com. They did the Sunshine Guarantee program with Priceline.com last year.
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