Bermuda has some amazing stories to tell
BOB MOWAT
One of the first things that Kiwan Anderson will tell you about Bermuda is that everyone has their own story about the island.
“Everyone I talk to has these memories of what brought them to the island and what keeps bringing them back,” Anderson, who is the director of global PR & brand partnerships for the Bermuda Tourism Authority, told Canadian Travel Press during a recent interview in Toronto.
The Bermuda experience is personal in so many ways and that personal connection with the destination is something that Anderson says the tourism authority likes “to really lean into.”
“We have a theme called Celebrations and it’s all about celebrating the time you lost [during COVID] and the people you haven’t seen in a while,” he said.
It’s all about “celebrating your family; celebrating those moments big and small and Bermuda is the place to do that,” he explained.
And Anderson points out that: “People are coming to celebrate something” when they visit Bermuda, and they can “do it on a budget” or “not on a budget.”
“It’s whatever you make it and that’s what I love about it — that’s what I love about the island,” he said.
That’s certainly the message that Anderson brought with him during a recent visit to Toronto last month to participate in the Canadian Meetings + Events Expo and to continue the initiative that the Bermuda Tourism Authority began last year as it re-engaged with the Canadian market.
“We’re here to really reinforce our investment in the Canadian market,” Anderson told CTP, before pointing out that the arrival of BermudAir on the scene has generated a lot of excitement for the destination as it offers service from both Toronto and Halifax.
And the BTA’s increased presence on the Canadian scene certainly seems to be working, with Anderson noting that the Canadian market is doing well and that “in 2023, we hit all of our numbers – so, we were up… and right now things are looking good [for 2024]… and the projections are steady.”
“We’re excited,” Anderson told Travel Courier. “We have a lot of great stories still to tell … and we are preparing for a brand refresh. That’s coming soon. We’re just starting to wrap our heads around it [the brand refresh].”
He continued: “People are ready to spend money and are ready to go someplace that has all the things that they need. And that’s the other thing, we’re leaning in to being all year round – it’s not just shoulder season – it’s more about year-round.”
And Bermuda can certainly achieve that goal as the island offers plenty to do any time of the year with a wide range of events and activities on offer to visitors.
As for travel agents and tour operators, Anderson said that the message “is that we are here to service whatever they need.”
He explained: “We’re really having conversations with them to understand what their customers are looking for, particularly in our Canadian and UK markets – because they’re both so unique.”
That conversation with agents and operators is critical in Anderson’s view as he explained that as “travel habits and behaviours shift, we depend on [travel agents and tour operators] to really give us guidance and the ability to understand what’s happening.”
He noted as well that agents and operators are “the ones that have direct contact and links with travellers and they understand their travellers the best. So, we really value them and want to make sure we continue those relationships.’
And he observed that today, “people want that value, but they also don’t want to spend a lot of time travelling.”
Anderson continued: “Travelling is already a headache, but I think the time you spend in the air is also a factor. People are making choices based on time because time is really more valuable to folks now and that’s something that we’ve really been leaning into and that’s why proximity messaging is really important for us. It’s probably the number one thing we talk about. It’s the first thing we talk about. It has always kind of been that way, but we really are leaning into that.”
It’s also about re-educating a new generation of travellers. Making it clear that Bermuda is not a Caribbean island. That it is 600 miles east of Cape Hatteras off the coast of North Carolina.
“That is something that always resonates,” Anderson said. “People don’t realize how close Bermuda is until they’re on the plane and they land. So, I think this is a good example of the value in time.”
“I love the fact that we are where we are right now because we get to lean into these amazing things — our culture, our heritage, our culinary,” he said, adding: “There are things that we do that are so unique to Bermuda.”
And naturally, Anderson told CTP that the best way for people to discover just how amazing Bermuda really is, is to go.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Hurricane Ernesto made landfall in Bermuda on Aug. 17. Following its passing, cleanup efforts on the island began almost immediately, with the airport reopening quickly; and hotels and venues back in operation. In a statement, the Bermuda Tourism Authority said: “We are proud of our island’s preparedness for these types of situations and of the resilience demonstrated by our people as we weathered this storm.” For more, go to www.gotobermuda.com.
