WILLEMSTAD- March 16, 2017 – The first quarter is always a busy period for the Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) with at least 6 fairs spread through Germany and the Netherlands with the opportunity to engage 1 million consumers in these markets.
The year starts out with the consumer fair Vakantiebeurs in the Netherlands where Curaçao was joined by 16 hotel partners. While the focus at this fair is on the consumers, the first day is always dedicated to the trade and press partners which culminates in a CTB organized cocktail hour to network with our most valued trade and press partners. To attract visitors to the stand the team organized a consumer event, where visitors can win a trip to Curaçao for 2 by completing a survey.
Vakantiebeurs was followed by BOOT Düsseldorf and Duikvaker which are both consumer fairs focused on the diving tourism industry. BOOT is a German boat and watersport exhibition and Duikvaker is the Dutch equivalent. To engage the customers at BOOT the team also put together a consumer event for which their diving knowledge of the island was put to the test. CTB was joined by 11 dive operators and hotels, who gladly helped the consumers fill in the correct information in order to have a chance to win a trip to Curaçao.
In order to represent Curaçao at other German fairs, CTB joined forces with AGK a not for profit organization, promoting and advancing tourism in the Caribbean. Working together the team was able to represent Curaçao at CMT Stuttgart and f.re.e München. CMT fair offers special travel themes such as golf, wellness, cruise ships and culture. F.re.e is the most popular tourism fair in the Bavaria region and recorded a massive growth (11%) this year in visit numbers to a total of 135.000.
The second week of March is marked yearly by the attendance to the world’s leading travel trade show, ITB Berlin. CTB is joined yearly by at least 15 hotel partners at ITB, who are looking to network, discover new business opportunities and maintain trade relations. CTB team concluded a successful ITB, marked by interesting meetings with trade partners, presentations and a blogger speed dating event.
