An assessment of the Caribbean tourism organization’s collaborative marketing efforts

Abstract

With a heavy dependence on tourism and unrelenting challenges on the horizon, Caribbean nations are called to collaborate for their survival. This is a trend being observed globally as various nation groupings are banding together for the success of their tourism industries. With the responsibility of steering tourism in the region, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) has the task of representing all of its member nations and the particularly critical task of marketing them as a region. That being considered, this study aims at examining the effectiveness of the collaborative marketing efforts of the CTO. To aid this assessment, CTO’s member nations were contacted and, those who were willing, interviewed. Palmer’s (2002) study on marketing effectiveness was consulted and from this the measures of effectiveness were obtained and further applied to the interview protocol. Similarity among members, reciprocity, governance style and commitment were the variables used to determine member nations’ views on the effectiveness of the CTO’s collaborative marketing initiatives. Using framework analysis, the data received were analysed and further interpreted. It was found that the marketing initiatives of the CTO are effective insofar as its members are committed but ineffective in that governance is doubted, reciprocity is pegged as minimal and the dissimilarity among member nations fuels perceptions of inequity. In light of the issues revealed, recommendations were made that can be considered by both the CTO and its member nations for the overall development of the Caribbean region.