St. George’s, May 03rd, 2022

Skift, a leading market research and travel industry news service hosted a virtual Travel Loyalty Summit and invited a number of travel industry experts to expound on the future of loyalty in the travel industry in a post covid climate. The summit was designed to explore the changing dynamics in consumer behaviour and addressed how hotels, airlines and destinations can engage with their target audience to capitalize on global demand for more and better options when travelling.

The CEO of the Grenada Tourism Authority, Petra Roach was invited to participate in a session titled “New Paths to Building Tourism Loyalty” where she spoke on the GTA’s recently launched diaspora initiative, 473 Connect. This program focuses on building organic loyalty by mobilizing the 360,000 plus Grenadians who live overseas and have proven to be able and committed ambassadors for their home island.

“The diaspora really are the unsung heroes who promote our island tirelessly and organically with traditionally no expectation of anything in return,” Roach stated. “We believe there is nothing more organic and pure than someone who is speaking from an authentic space.”

473 Connect rewards the efforts the diaspora community has naturally been involved in by incentivizing their advocacy. Grenadians around the world are encouraged to join the initiative through the website and complete a short 12 module training program, which will give them 473 Connect ambassador status and membership.

The program is an example of how Grenada as a destination is pushing the loyalty concept to establish sustainable tourism methods, which provides participants with the tools and knowledge to recommend Grenada as an ideal vacation destination to their peers.