Bahamas starts ad offensive to ward off a recessional lag

The Bahamas is launching a campaign to encourage tourists to continue visiting the luxury destination despite the looming recession.

The ads, which break this weekend, aim to give the islands “a character and personality” to get the destination on people’s agenda for their next holiday. The campaign is aimed at ABC1s and pre- and post-family consumers across the UK.

The campaign, which will run across press and outdoor, will show local people telling their stories about the islands. The campaign has the strapline “In the island of the Bahamas, every story starts with a smile”.

A spokesman for The Bahamas Tourist Board says/ “For the first time, the ads will break its conventional beach-and-sea images and feature real people who can take holidaymakers diving, golfing and snorkeling.”

The ads will break in the national press, including The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Observer. An outdoor campaign will run on London Underground and network rail stations, and there will be ads in travel magazines, on travel websites and radio.

In 2007, the Bahamas received about 45,000 UK holidaymakers. This campaign aims to maintain this number as it fears that consumers will opt for cheaper holiday destinations in the economic downturn.

The campaign is developed by The Bahamas Tourist Board’s creative agency Fox Kalomaski.