As the official 2012 regional tourist season winds down, Harlequin Hotels & Resorts has taken a proactive approach to promoting its Vincentian and St Lucian destinations, with a nine-day informational UK road show.{{more}}

Promoting the company’s key message ‘Redefining Luxury in the Caribbean’, well-known travel industry expert Graham Hawkins, who recently joined the Harlequin sales and marketing team, travelled to nine UK cities, highlighting the amenities of Buccament Bay Resort in St Vincent and blu St Lucia. During a comprehensive presentation to audiences of over 900 independent high street travel agents, the team also took the opportunity to update those gathered on the status of their Barbadian projects, the first of which, H Barbados, is due to come on stream in early 2013. Located on the island’s south coast at Hasting’s Beach, H Barbados will be the first of Harlequin Hotels & Resorts’ “H” brand of luxury boutique hotels.

Speaking after the road show’s last event in Leeds, England, Hawkins said, “We are very pleased with the response to the UK road shows. We realised the current economic environment necessitates a more proactive approach to the marketing of our hotels and resorts. The events also provided us with valuable feedback as to what potential travellers are looking for in a highly competitive world travel market.”

Hawkins went on to explain: “It’s an exciting time for Harlequin Hotels & Resorts, with Buccament Bay Resort going from strength to strength, the opening of blu St Lucia, plus other new developments happening in Barbados; so it is pivotal to our business that we invest in our own travel agent road shows.”

“Product knowledge is king,” he added, “and holding these road shows and getting our message straight to the agents will help them keep the Harlequin properties at the top of their mind when talking to their clients.”

Feedback from participants in the events confirmed the sessions were both informative and timely, providing valuable details about these relatively new properties and countries.