Marketing Plan for St. Lucia: Analysis of Products, Services, and Competitive Advantage

This marketing plan discusses various marketing approaches for St. Lucia, a major holiday destination in the Eastern Caribbean. It includes an analysis of products and services, competitive advantage, and current marketing and brand positioning approaches.

Running head: MARKETING
Marketing
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Marketing....................................................................................................................................................1
Introduction to the destination.....................................................................................................................3
Destination marketing organization or DMO..............................................................................................4
Tourism market trends in St. Lucia.............................................................................................................4
Analysis of products and services to be marketed.......................................................................................5
Competitive advantage................................................................................................................................8
Current marketing and brand positioning approaches..................................................................................8
SWOT analysis..........................................................................................................................................10
Marketing Strategy Development Priorities for products and services (Nature & Eco Tourism)..............11
References...............................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction to the destination
The report presents a marketing plan for a certain destination named St. Lucia, which is a
major holiday destination for the tourists in Eastern Caribbean. It is an Island destination with
tapered mountains named as the Pitons on the western part of the island, which offers
exceptional view and thus has been a popular destination for travel and tourism activities as well.
There are volcanic beaches, sites for reef diving, fishing villages and luxury resorts along with
waterfalls, which makes it appealing for the guests to visit this place (Vohs and Baumeister
2016). The travel and tourism companies have made sure to arrange the right facilities for the
guests to visit and have a enjoyable experience at St. Lucia. The marketing plan will discuss
about various marketing approaches that shall be followed to market the holiday destination and
ensure drawing more clients, thus create convenience for the travel and tourism to make a mark
within the concerned industry.
The sovereign island country named Saint Lucia is in the eastern part of Caribbean Sea in
the West Indies and on the boundary of Atlantic Ocean. It covers an entire land of 617 square
kilometers and the popular is over 170000 and the capital of the place is Castries. The French
people were the main residents of the place and because of constant switching between the Fresh
and British, the island is known as the Helen of West Indies (Whitfield et al. 2013). The place
holds excellent combination of natural beauty, rich culture embedded within the history of the
place makes it one of the down to earth place offering breathtaking beautiful views with
nonchalance.

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Destination marketing organization or DMO
The destination marketing organizations means the travel and tourism company that has
been associated with the management of marketing activities enhance the number of guests
visiting the place and preserving its culture, natural biodiversity and environment as well. The
Saint Lucia Caribbean is ne of the most reputed destination marketing organization that has
managed all the tourism marketing activities and ensured that greater numbers of clients are
attracted towards the destination and by preserving the rich culture, heritage and natural beauty
of the place as well (Pike and Page 2014). The place boosts of a lucrative and huge tourism
industry, which also creates scopes for the Government to promote the place according to the
Saint Lucia Tourism authority. Not only the wealthy tourists of US, UK and West Indies have
been targeted, but also the middle class segments, because of which, Saint Lucia Caribbean or
SLC has made the tourism packages available inclusive of accommodation, travel to
destinations, etc. at reasonable price ranges based on the needs of clients (Volgger and Pechlaner
2014).
Tourism market trends in St. Lucia
At present, to attract more travelers towards the destination, the St. Lucia's National
Tourism Council has been formed for the management of tourism and travel activities in the
island and make jobs easier for the Government agencies to get involved in tourism with ease.
The National Tourism Council is associated with the addressing of issues that can affect the
sector and at the same time, facilitated the development of policies related to travel and tourism,
tourism strategies, Branding, campaigns and initiatives along with the streamlining of marketing
operations (Hays, Page and Buhalis 2013). This also should ensure that the investments that are

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made can thrive for better results, furthermore result in reducing the overall operating costs and
thus create a positive impact on the tourism services by keeping the prices of services reasonable
and affordable for the clients while visiting the place. Though air travel and cruise ships are
available, still there has been redevelopment of Hewannora airport in Vieux fort, located in the
southern part of the island for the replacement of the old facility and place the destination on par
with the other international holiday destinations. The travelers’ arrival in St. Lucia hit a record
high of 1.1 million in the year 2017, with an increase of 27 percent in the cruise sector and over
15 percent in air travel, thus making its beneficial for the investment opportunities as well, which
further resulted in spending over $15 million for managing the expansion of the port capacity
and accommodate larger ships (Morrison 2013). To enhance the tourism activities and attract
global clients to the place, the Ministry of Tourism in St. Lucia also made sure to set up entities
to market and even branded multiple villages where fishing is a major occupation. The recent
tourism trends include transforming the food and craft markets in Castries for introducing newer
food joints, bakery, coffee shops on the water fronts and bring the entire tourism market alive
that can hold the essence of the place and differentiate the products and services related to
tourism for the travelers during their visit at St. Lucia (Wagner III and Hollenbeck 2014).
Analysis of products and services to be marketed
Attractions
The attractions of St. Lucia are to be promoted with the help of various marketing
campaigns managed by Saint Lucia Caribbean tourism company for drawing in more clients and
creating the best travelling arrangements for them to enjoy and relax during their stay at the

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place. St. Lucia is a home of great scenic beauties, The Pitons and he locations of hotels and
resorts are extremely good located by the beach are just clean and tidy. Sugar Beach is another
place where people can relax and have bath along with experience life under water including
trumpet fish, little squids, moray eels, etc. all of which with proper safety measures maintained
by the tourism companies (Saeidi et al. 2015).
Accessibility
It is well connected by water and air travel and thus there are multiple options available
for the customer, depending upon their choices and needs. There are direct flights from United
Kingdom to St’ Lucia and it takes around eight hours It could also be flown from Gatwick with
Virgin Atlantic. There are cruise ships as well that though took some time to make guests reach
the destination, still it offers scenic and exceptional oceanic views and passing through the
mountains in the ocean is something more than adventurous that should be experienced by the
tourists. To gather more information, the website could be accessed by clients (Gamble,
Thompson and Peteraf 2013). The two airports are Hewanorra International Airport and George
Charles Airport, while everyday local ferries dock at Soufriere and Port Castries.
www.saintluciauk.org
Amenities
In respect of accommodation and lodging facilities, there are multiple options for hotels
and resorts available for the guests at St. Lucia arranged by the tourism companies such as SLC.
The facilities of the hotels need to fulfill the needs of clients and for that proper rules and
regulations should be maintained for the foreign customers during entry such as they should

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possess passports though VISA is not required in case the client is from UK, US or Canadian
citizen.
Packages available
The packages are available for the guests by travel agencies including SLC Company,
Cox and Kings, MakeMyTrip, Expedia, etc. These act as intermediaries that sell the products and
services and even the guests are allowed to book the packages based on their needs accordingly
online (Urde and Koch 2014).
Activities
The volcanic islands can be roamed in the evening offering great view of the sun going
down and with mountains surround the entire water areas. There are arrangements for trekking in
the volcanic hilly mountains and can also be flown through the rainforest canopy. The huge
production of coca makes the place famous for huge amounts of chocolate production and it is a
great business here too that contributes a significant portion of money for the growth in economy
and improvement of tourism services at St. Lucia. The fishing villages offer barbecued fish and
chicken along with live music and dancing that can be enjoyable for guests to try out something
new at the place as well (Matilainen and Lähdesmäki 2014).
Ancillary services
The ancillary services include providing the guests with proper knowledge and
information about the kind of food they can get along with the most suitable offerings that can be
arranged for them to improve their experience during their stay at St. Lucia. Not only about

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accommodation facilities, but also the guests are to be knowledgeable and informed about the
telecommunications’ services provider, hospitals, departure tax to be issued for individuals aged
above 12 years (Gayle and Goodrich 20149).
Competitive advantage
There are numerous features that are available at St Lucia and can easily differentiate it
from any other holiday destinations all over the globe. Firstly, it is an island destination the
surround areas of the place are filled with water, i.e., it is located in the Atlantic Ocean. The rich
culture and heritage of the place make it easy for the clients to differentiate this place from any
other holiday destinations and it is something much more than what actually has been
experienced by them before. There are multiple locations in St Lucia that offer exceptionally
great scenic view and it is enough for guests to sit and relax by beach and look at sun going
down through the mountains as well. The average temperature remains within 30 degree, which
is actually great considering the area being covered by ocean from every sides. Moreover, the
prices of flight tickets are considerably low and it is a great destination for people around UK to
visit, as it costs not more than 8 hours in total to reach the place (Masser et al. 2016). THE
Pitons,8 include towering peaks that hold prime topographic features while the Marigot Bay and
Chastanet Marine national park allows people to gain under water experience at lower cost. The
fishing village has left a huge impact on tourism at St Lucia because the colorful fishing villages
of Soufriere have offered different fishing delicacies that are popular among the customers. The
Diamond Botanical Gardens, Waterfall & Mineral Baths are few other things that have made St
Lucia a memorable place to visit and it can surely create a competitive edge over its competitors
(Scott, Laws and Boksberger 2013).

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Current marketing and brand positioning approaches
St Lucia Caribbean has developed an action plan demonstrating the various marketing
approaches needed to maintain and position the brand properly and create a positive brand
presence. The brand positioning has been done with the help of opening an website that includes
all the necessary information about the destination and tourism options available. The vision plan
has to be considered as the development framework for ensuring that the fulfillment of needs is
possible along with proper management of resources and sustainable practices that can consume
lesser amount s of resources too. The policies and sustainable energy plan considered should also
help in creating positive mindsets among clients and influence them to visit the place o have an
enjoyable experience. The yachting and cruise shipping options are increased to prevent any
limited accessibility to the destination for the guests (Chellan, Mtshali and Khan 2013). The
social media involvement has further facilitated the brand exposure and attracted a huge
customer base, thus influencing them to purchase the tourism services. The landscaping activities
helped in the protection of environment and beauty of the flora of St Lucia and the safety
strategies including the ambient lighting conditions and maintaining proper security for the
safety of guests have contributed to the management of safety and security of people too.
To position the brand, St Lucia nature and eco tourism has played a major role in
matching the existing natural resources with the development of tourism products and services
such as agriculture, nature based attractions, adventure tourism, hiking, trekking, touring, etc.
The luxury tourism has also been improved with focus on luxury products and services delivered
on the value proposition along with continuing to farm the honeymoon and wedding market,
which has ensured successful competitiveness by partnership working spa and luxury resorts and

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hotels (Miles, Verreynne and Luke 2014). The wellness tourism services are also marketed to
create unique attractions for the guests through multiple sulphur springs that are linked with the
health and wellbeing of the place, thus offering the best quality and branded destination spas in
St Lucia.
The traditions of crafts at Choiseul are a treat for many guests visiting St Lucia and this
has not contributed much to the social and economic support of the place. The poverty, low
social status and poor working conditions are often been overcome with the development of
traditional crafts of Saint Lucia, which could also revitalize the industry and act as a source of
income for many people across St Lucia. This is another effective marketing activity that has
lead to the popularity and recognition of the place and drew more clients towards the destination
(Hill and Lewis 2015).
The cultural tourism project could also act as a trend setter in marketing for St Lucia to
provide foundation to the community led development of the place at Choiseul and create better
and sustainable livelihoods for people in need across the island and even in parts of wider
Caribbean.
SWOT analysis
Strengths
 Great scenic view and attractions for
tourists
 Diversified range of products and
service available at reasonable price
Weaknesses
Poor brand positioning
 Lack of online marketing channels
 The rich culture and heritage are not

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 Culturally rich heritage
 Rich history and culture focused
projects have contributed to sustainable
practices of tourism marketing
 Surrounded by water from all sides and
thus the temperature is quite good here
 Easily accessible for people across UK
promoted properly
 A long distance to be covered along
with the amount of time for the people
in China and India to visit the place
Opportunities
 Focus on sustainable practices has
given rise to eco tourism activities
 Online and social media channels have
acted as effective way of marketing of
St Lucia
 Wider global outreach could support
attracting huge customer base and
higher revenue generation
Threats
 Threats of competitors within the
tourism industry
 The destinations in US and UK are
more popular among travelers rather
than visiting St Lucia
 The cruise ships offer limited tourism
services, thus making it sometimes
inconvenient for guests to visit the
place

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Marketing Strategy Development Priorities for products and services (Nature & Eco
Tourism)
The marketing strategies are aligned with the sustainable practices nowadays the most for
managing nature and ecotourism effectively. The tourism marketing has focused on discovery
and protection of natural resources and developed infrastructures to offer sustainable products to
the tourists. The rural accommodation facilities should be transformed into private houses and
farms for managing agro tourism tours and use its natural resources to form nature sports like
Electric quads, mountain biking, trekking and even arrange adventure activities like kite surfing,
zip Line, paragliding, etc. for creating interests among the travelers (Dwyer et al. 2014).
The objectives are to develop and promote an authentic St Lucia, target the niches and
attract the new market segments for increasing the client base. The promotion of brands related
to the locally produced goods and handicrafts are essential along with availability of tourism
offers for the guests to ensure targeting the traditional markets, such as in USA, European
countries and penetrate high value tourism segments. The active target growth markets include
Germany, France while the expanding target markets are of Canada, all of which guarantees new
market growth opportunities (Bagot et al. 2014). The review and update of marketing,
commercial and branding plan of St Lucia should be done along with the assessment of costs
incurred with the management of distribution channels, both offline and online. The other things
to be focused include improving the data collection and keeping consistent monitoring and
evaluation through market intelligence procedures, furthermore create a more balanced air and
cruise travel and tourism along with competitive advantage for St Lucia (Wright et al. 2015).

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