Excursion provider unveils bespoke experiences in the Caribbean and is set to launch an agent loyalty program
ANN RUPPENSTEIN
From MINI Cooper tours to sunset catamaran cruises, over the past 15 years Island Routes has made a name in the agency community as a leading tour operator in the Caribbean. Now the excursion company has launched the Private & Bespoke Collections, a new upscale travel style featuring fully customizable and tailor-made experiences for clients.
“When we first started getting the word out there we realized that persons didn’t know what they could do in the destinations just by saying we can do bespoke experiences. You have to know Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Antigua to know what options are there,” CEO Ryan Terrier told Travel Courier. “So we built out inspirations or thought provokers. We started with 12 in Jamaica, which are just examples of itineraries that persons can do and people can use that as a guide.”
While the product is entirely customizable for a personalized, bespoke experience, these inspirational itineraries showcase the range possibilities that await travellers. For example, Island Routes now offers an enhanced version of the popular bamboo rafting tour down the Martha Brae River.
“What we’ve done to all these products is added elements to it that are a little bit more unique, a little bit closer to the destination,” Terrier explained. “When you go down the river instead of just doing an hour ride, there’s different elements like there could be music playing along the way down. We stop at an area on the side of the river where there’s a beautifully tablescaped dinner or lunch set up, we bring in a chef, they’re cooking right there on the side of the river. There’s jerk chicken, grilled lobster, whatever the guest has selected.”
Or for a more personalized way to experience Jamaica’s Dunn’s River Falls, Island Routes offers a coastline powerboat tour of Ocho Rios offering a unique beachside access to the 600 feet falls — beating out other tourists and cruiseship visitors. The experience is topped off with a snorkelling stop at Laughing Waters, a filming location from Dr. No from the James Bond empire. An exclusive Jamaican-style picnic prepared by a private chef in a secluded cove tops the experience.
100% dedicated to agents
Notably, Terrier said the new product is focussed on travel advisors.
“This product in particular, our strategy from the moment we launched it has been a B2B strategy, launched entirely through the travel trade,” he said. “Why we’re here now in wonderful snowy Toronto is exactly that — to work with travel agents, bring this product to their attention — many of them were not aware of it. Our strategy is to really launch this through the travel trade community.”
And to grow the segment, Island Routes is on the cusp of launching a new loyalty program to benefit the travel trade.
“We are looking to start rewarding agents with a loyalty program. Details will follow soon,” revealed the company’s head of global sales, David Black. “We’re going to recognize and reward.”
Elevating Caribbean experiences
Since its inception in 2009 with one tour desk at one hotel in Jamaica, Island Routes now has a major presence in Caribbean destinations like Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Turks & Caicos Islands, Dominican Republic, St. Maarten, Aruba, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In addition to the Private & Bespoke Collections, Terrier said they’ve also rebranded Island Routes to have a more premium touch and feel.
“The Caribbean has so much history. Each island has its unique culture, its unique aspects. There’s so much culture to embrace. The gastronomy is an important element in all destinations,” Terrier said. “When we introduce food, which is a big part of these experiences, how we do it differently is we bring the owners, the chefs, and they come and they sit down with you or walk you through what you are eating. If you’re eating the local cuisine, they’re telling you the history of it, where it originated. It changes from a fantastic meal to an experience.”
More than sun, sand and sea
Interestingly, Terrier said Canadians are increasingly looking to get off the resort during a vacation.
“We find generally Canadians want to connect more with the destination and they want to experience what happens locally within a destination,” he shared.
Meanwhile, Ron Veno, director of sales for Island Routes, said the new product allows for Canadians to delve deeper into the Caribbean.
“There was this lack of experiential travel in the Caribbean yet all the components were there — the food, the people, the music, the natural beauty was all there,” he said. “The sun and the sea is always going to be part of it. Like when people go to France, they’re always going to see the Eiffel Tower but then maybe they want to go to Champagne and have more time doing cultural and culinary things and it’s the same concept, that type of culinary, cultural experience exists in the Caribbean but nobody has ever put it together. So do people want to lay on the beach and enjoy the water? Of course, but there’s other opportunities to get off the resort or hotel.”
While not all clients may have the budget for some of the more top-of-the-line experiences, Black encourages agents to at least offer the possibilities to their clientele and said that there are various price points available.
Agents who want to get involved can head to islandroutes.com/travel-agents to register their agency and receive a personal access code to log into the portal at ta.islandroutes.com to start booking tours and earning commission.
“We are the destination expert, we know the destination, we know the Caribbean, so we’re here to walk agents through whatever questions they may have,” Terrier added. “This product is really for that client, that guest who wants to develop that deeper connection with the destination.”
