Cabbie! Cayman please

| 29/03/2009

(CNS): The Department of Tourism is taking a new approach to tempting Londoners to come visit the Cayman Islands with a black cab depicting the destination. As the UK capital’s travelling public hail the famous taxis, some will be getting into one that will take them miles away from the London drizzle. Although branding a Cab as a marketing tool has been available for some time, the DoT said it was the first time that a Cayman cab has been commissioned in almost ten years. The department said that the cab idea comes at a time when the profile of Cayman is comparatively high following a number of PR successes and a high impact advertising campaign.

Donald McDougall, the Department of Tourism’s regional manager, Europe said in the past the popularity of cab advertising had priced it out of the realms of possibility for many tourism organisations. However, he said that the Cayman Islands DoT has entered a co-sponsorship deal with Dial-a-Flight that has made it a very cost-effective marketing tool.

“Our Cayman cab is definitely an eye-catching vehicle and will not go un-noticed either by its passengers or passingtraffic, and is already causing some comment. By coincidence, the colour scheme of the cab’s black paintwork works seamlessly with our use of black in the background of our advertising creative,” McDougall added.

The cab is a joint marketing venture between the Department of Tourism and Dial-a-Flight, part of the Lotus Group, one of the UK’s largest travel companies. Dial-a-Flight operates a fleet of cabs on the streets of London and the Cayman Islands has secured a one year partial sponsorship deal with the company, enabling it to co-brand both the interior and exterior of one of its taxis. The deal comes with renewal options for years two and three.

 

 

 

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I fear this may be money down the drain.

    British holiday makers who come here (other than those on cruisers) generally have some link to the island, such as a friend or relative living here.

    Most high street travel agents have offers for other caribbean islands such as Cuba, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, which for a less than 1,000GBP, offer flights, tansfers and two weeks accomodation including taxes and all inclusive food and drink!  That would get you about two nights in most of the hotels in Cayman.

    It’s just too expensive.

  2. Anonymous says:

     Wow!! I think this is a great idea! such a shame one hasnt been done in ten years…… they should never stop now! maybe it is also time that the DOTsend some local musicians or dancers to London since our image is now at an all time high. President of the local music asscoaition , Jean Eric Smith was on  the Rooster several weeks ago talking about the possibility of making this happen. Surely local musicians will be much more an interactive salesman and ambassador  for the isalnds than a cab.