Digital Marketing Index 2015 for 35 Caribbean Destinations

Caribbean destinations like most throughout the globe spend millions each year to attract new and returning tourists to the region — in total 25.1million stay-over tourists last year. Many of the marketing campaigns are via traditional television and print media, but we are starting to see more marketing activity online. While the exact level of investment for digital marketing by Caribbean destinations is not known, Caribbean & Co. conducted some analysis to determine which were more successful with their efforts. For each Caribbean destination, we compiled publicly available information including but not limited to:

  • * Date Website Domain Created, Domain Authority, Page Authority;
  • * Number of Inbound Links to Website Domain;
  • * Number of social media followers across six major channels including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google Plus and YouTube; and
  • * 3rd party rankings such as Alexa and SimilarWeb.

Based on proprietary weighting of the data, below is a digital marketing ranking for 35 Caribbean destinations.

RankCaribbean DestinationScore2014 Stay-Over Tourists
1Aruba7161,072,082
2Bahamas7011,421,860
3Jamaica6822,080,181
4Belize644321,217
5Curaçao625450,953
6Dominican Republic5875,141,377
7Puerto Rico5821,688,472
8Bermuda570224,246
9Martinique565489,561
10Barbados558519,598
11Turks & Caicos Islands512368,164
12Cayman Islands502382,816
13British Virgin Islands478386,049
14United States Virgin Islands456730,367
15Trinidad & Tobago432412,537
16Grenada430133,521
17St Kitts378104,730
18Nevis339included with St Kitts figures
19Guadeloupe332???
20Dominica32981,472
21St Lucia324338,158
22Bonaire307130,000
23Guyana304205,824
24Anguilla28570,927
24Montserrat2758,804
26St Maarten220499,920
27Suriname214251,611
28Saba204???
29St Vincent & The Grenadines18670,713
30Cuba1723,001,958
31St Martin170???
32St Eustatius166???
33Antigua & Barbuda152249,316
34Haiti138465,174
35St Barthélemy90???

The 2014 stay-over tourists figures above were reported to the Caribbean Tourism Organization and are provide for reference only and have not been factored into the ranking as it is not possible to ascertain from just public information what percentage of stay-over tourists should be given partial or full credit to a destination’s online/digital marketing activity. Further insight would be needed on spend across all marketing channels.

That said, it should also be noted:
1. The majority of websites were established in the mid to late 1990s.
2. Collectively, the websites have approximately 750,000 inbound links; Bermuda alone has 227,000 links.
3. The 35 Caribbean destinations collectively have 5.1million social media followers across the six major networks.
4. The top three social media networks include: Facebook – 87%; Twitter – 10% and Instagram – 2.5%.
5. Jamaica alone has 856,000 social media followers representing approximately 17% of the total.
6. Cuba is the only destination with over 1million stay-over tourists for 2014, that did not rank well. No surprise, as their internet infrastructure is still somewhat limited and are investing more heavily into more traditional marketing (print, television, trade shows, etc.).
7. Aruba’s #1 ranking is not surprising considering their continual creative campaigns online including The Happiness Builder launched earlier this summer which allows potential visitors to explore nearly 100 videos featuring adventure, relaxation, romance and cultural activities in Aruba.

Top photo: Aruba – Family at Butterfly Farm. Photo: © Aruba Tourism Authority.

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Welcome to Caribbean & Co. founded by Ursula Petula Barzey who enjoys traveling the Caribbean in search of the best cultural and food adventures, places to stay and live/work opportunities. Launched in 2014, Caribbean & Co. has won five travel media awards.

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