Every time I see an slogan for Jamaica, Dominican Republic or Cancun, it makes my blood boil a little each time. In April 2013, the Caribbean Tourism Organization sponsored a conference in Trinidad on Sustainable Tourism Development. This was a nice little dog and pony show to communicate to the 100 interested people that we take tourism seriously – as though Trinidadians or the the Government of Trinidad actually takes tourism seriously. I was browsing through the last three years of presentations – not a single presentation on social media or how other countries/tourist boards have used social media to increase their brand awareness.

I have to admit my bias in being only interested in initiatives that would increase Trinidad’s tourist product awareness, simply because other islands (Jamaica, Barbados) have superior brand awareness. Thankfully, there were none – so it saved me a lot of toilet reading, and allowed me to focus on my Economist iPad magazine and some gossip blogs.

Here is  question for you: What’s the slogan for Trinidad & Tobago? Or even “What’s Trinidad’s tourism slogan?” If you could have answered “Trinidad & Tobago – the true Caribbean”, then you’re waaayyyy better than I am – because I really had no idea. I have no goddamn clue about what that slogan actually means … does it mean that everywhere else in the island is not the “real Caribbean”? If it was, then gimme the fake Caribbean with customer service, low crime rate, stunning beaches and no pollution !

Why bother competing with the other islands on their natural beauty, beaches and tourist infrastructure? We CAN’T … the other islands are just better at promoting their product, while we haven’t truly identified our product. Here’s an idea, lets promote what we are great in … our people and culture. We can’t even articulate what we’re about, yet we want people to come to Trinidad.

I was reading through a list of other countries slogans, and there are certain countries that pitch nothing but a vague thought as a means to sell their destination:

• Anguilla Feeling is Believing
• Florida Keys Come As You Are
• Hungary A Love for Life
• Taiwan Touch Your Heart

How about these one word slogans – don’t these just pull at you?

• Brazil Sensational!
• Incredible India
• Cool Japan
• WOW Philippines
• Uniquely Singapore
• Amazing Thailand
• Discover Peru – and I’m definitely going to discover Machu Picchu and Cusco.

Some place brand themselves as value destinations … hence the two word slogans

• Italy Much More
• Germany Affordable Hospitality

You want a slogan … here are a couple samples for Trinidad’s tourism slogan …

Trinidad & Tobago – The Culture Island!
Trinidad : Culture!!!
Trinidad: The land of festivals!

I love the talk of initiatives, but our first idea should be to re-brand Trinidad’s slogan, because we are not the True Caribbean, in fact we are

Trinidad and Tobago : THE Different Caribbean!

For your reading pleasure… here is a sample list of tourist slogans from http://touristvstraveller.wordpress.com. Fiona’s site made my life a million times easier for this blog post. You should visit her blog for some more interesting reading and for a full list of other travel slogans.

AMERICAS

• Antigua and Barbuda – The beach is just the beginning…
• Argentina beats to your rhythm
• Bermuda – so much more
• Bolivia awaits you
• Brasil – sensational!
• Canada – keep exploring
• Colombia – the only risk is wanting to stay
• CoColumbia
• Costa Rica – no artificial ingredients
• Autentica Cuba
• Dominica – the nature island
• Dominican Republic has it all
• Ecuador – love life
• Guyana – experience, explore & enjoy
• Honduras – todo esta aqui
• Nicaragua – Unica. Original!
• Paraguay – You have to feel it!
• Peru – Empire of Hidden Treasures
• Puerto Rico does it better
• Uruguay natural
• Venezuela is your destination!