INTERNATIONAL TRENDS EXPERT DANIEL LEVINE BRINGING TRAVEL AND TOURISM FUTURE TRENDS TO THE CARIBBEAN

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (5 May, 2010) –   Caribbean travel industry leaders looking to cash in on the “Next Big Thing” will discover powerful answers at the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)’s Caribbean Marketing Conference, when international trends consultant Daniel Levine unveils his ground-breaking revelations on how travel businesses can prosper by embracing ascendant social trends

Named the “ultimate guru of cool” by CNN, Levine is the Executive Director of The Avant-Guide Institute (www.avantguide.com), the New York-based trends consultancy for travel and consumer marketing, where he leads a team of over 8,000 international “trend hunters” who track the latest ideas and experiences from around the globe. 

Based on thoughtful new research from his forthcoming book, Daniel Levine will reveal how Caribbean tourism will not just survive, but thrive, by turning major trends into profitable opportunities.

“One of the most powerful things a travel business can do to raise profits and awareness is to get in sync with major social developments and respond to them in innovative new ways,” said Levine. “Trends are cravings for very specific types of products and services. Travel professionals can benefit enormously by satisfying these cravings with creative marketing and offerings.”

Indeed, social trends motivate people to purchase products and services as well as make all kinds of lifestyle decisions. They are some of the greatest socioeconomic drivers. However, most businesspeople still seem mystified by them, the trends consultant observed.

The Avant-Guide Institute (AGI) is the travel industry’s leading authority on using social trends to attract customers and increase sales. They have provided insight and foresight to a select roster of travel brands and destinations, including MasterCard, Samsonite and South African Tourism. Employing their proprietary TrendScend™ methodology, AGI identifies trends that are motivating travellers, and creates specific products, campaigns and plans of attack that resonate with their sensibilities.

Levine, who has keynoted other high-profile conferences, including World Travel Market, TravelCom and EIBTM, will demonstrate how creative companies from a wide range of industries are profiting and prospering from shifting social values. He will also explore how Caribbean tourism stakeholders can take advantage of these same trends in innovative new ways to win new business, increase profits and gain market share.

“We are very excited to have Daniel Levine address this very important marketing conference,” said Sylma Brown, the CTO’ acting Director of Marketing for the Americas. “We are confident that delegates will leave with a better idea of how to take advantage of the changing social trends that we see in the marketplace.

Hosted by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Allied Members in collaboration with the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME), the Annual Caribbean Marketing Conference is an important part of the programme for Caribbean Week in New York each year. It brings together the most influential policy makers, marketing professionals, and tourism industry officials to interact and discuss both tourism and investment opportunities in the region.

The 16th Annual Caribbean Marketing Conference will be held Friday, June 11, 2010 at the Helmsley Hotel in New York City.