The Bachelor hits St Lucia
As a disclaimer, I would like to state that the views shared below are my own (Chris Gardiner) and are not representative of the island or this company.
As a web design company on a small island we have a number of ties with Villas, Resorts and Hotels in St Lucia. A number of which were linked to the TV show – The Bachelor. Interestingly, the people behind the St Lucia Tourist Board has decided to run a promotion after the show hit St Lucia, namely “The Red Rose Offer”.
A number of hotels directly associated with the show placed packages on their websites, some of which include The Jalousie Plantation, Cap Maison and Jade Mountain. Then with the tourist boards last minute dash asked all hotels to offer this “The Red Rose Offer” on their sites as well in hopes to run on the tail of the show. Suddenly the island has The Bachelor fever. Has it helped?
Interestingly yes, the show is huge; and I say that with serious amazement because I took the opportunity to watch one episode and what a load of pants… I mean, really? Thats it, some guy (a pilot) having his way with a number of overly eager women in hope of getting a wife at the end. Great way to find true love!
The show seems to have an air of soap-opera about it, wowing millions show after show. All in all, beyond my own person views of the show, the show is a massive success and kudos to them for doing that.
s for how it has helped companies on island, one of my clients went from an average daily visitor count of 550 and shot to 1300 overnight with a massive 36000 visitor for that month. And amazingly, their property was showcased but not necessarily directly promoted – what I mean by that is that their name was not directly showcased just there location. Although I do not know the exact stats, the island has seen an massive influx of new visits many of which are directly linked to the show or the promotion offered – so much so that people are asking to stay in the very rooms Jake stayed in.
Even now, a large number of hotels are full – rooms are going fast and the hotels are saying the they are doing better this time of year as what they would normally be used to – all due to this phenomenon.
What’s next, it seems that reality TV now has a stronghold on the advertising industry, I believe they plan to visit a different Caribbean island the next time, and I hope all the success for that island as much as St Lucia has seen. Beyond the actual show/shows that might use St Lucia or the Caribbean for their gain, it seems that the trent will only help promote what we have – and that is Caribbean beauty!
Bring it on.. let them all come to visit us. But please don’t expect us to actually watch the shows ; ) – we will leave that to the bubbly, bright, wealth viewers that just have to come to see for themselves what the shows offer them in HD. Bring it on!