The Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) is pursuing the European travel market with fresh vigour, with special emphasis on the fast-growing millennial and multi-generational demographics.

BTMI’s Director Europe, Anita Nightingale, who was recently on island executing a digital campaign, explained that the overall objectives were to create demand during the Crop Over season and to increase awareness of the destination ahead of the new Munich direct service set to commence in November.

“We decided to give special focus to the 26-34 year-old segment, who we call sophisticated singles. These are action-oriented adults, who we targeted with Summer Fun campaign banners on major tour operator sites, who would want to experience Barbados like a local. The objective of this campaign was to bring to their attention the Crop Over Festival and the rich nightlife that it generates.” The Summer Fun campaign so far had generated over 59,310,452 impressions.

Planned to run from September, is a new digital campaign called Baje Guide, a concept designed to introduce Barbados as a fun, active, aspirational and culturally rich destination to the Dual Income, No Kids (DINKS) affluent European market. The guides, who include a German actor, French vlogger and Italian fashion blogger, were filmed indulging in a wide range of activities, often side-by-side with Barbadians.

French ‘YouTuber’, Lea Camilleri, and Italian fashion blogger, Irene Colzi, welcomed the opportunity to explore the island and readily shared their findings with more than a combined million followers across multiple social media platforms.

Camilleri, who is especially well-known and respected as a YouTube channel founder, challenged her followers to travel to new and exciting places by chronicling her ‘Bucket List’ trips with impactful vlogs.

The 28-year-old web star offers viewers an honest and immersive look at a country’s culture, epicurean experiences and interacting with locals, via her channel which boasts over seven million views and a keen following of over 375 thousand fans.

With social media being a hotbed for consumer research within the travel industry, converting online audiences into visitors will play an important role in the BTMI’s global marketing strategy going forward.