On June 12 in New York City I addressed a congress of Caribbean tourism leaders at the 15th Annual Caribbean Marketing Conference. This group of national tourism executives, government officials and others promoting travel and tourism throughout the region flew to New York while storms whipped the shores of their paradise destinations back home. They came, however, to defend and counterattack against the Caribbean’s Perfect Storm, a digital challenge far greater than the meteorological one.

Here is an excerpt from my speech to the Caribbean Tourism Organization:

With the Travel 2.0 floodgates open and a Long Tail economy in full gear, a plethora of searching and shopping tools continue to evolve, making it easier than ever for travelers to plan the perfect trip – or rather, the perfect trips.

This means it is easier than ever for travelers to choose Anguilla, Statia or Jamaica. It also means it is easier than ever for travelers to choose Anchorage over Anguilla, Stay-cations over Statia, or Jaipur over Jamaica.

I know you know this at some level but it still bears emphasizing. Your primary competition is not the next Caribbean destination, but Florida, Europe, a new car or home improvement. From a cost/benefit perspective, it is more economical to promote the Caribbean as a whole. Once a consumer has chosen the Caribbean, it makes sense for each destination to compete for the sale. So despite inherent difficulties, the right kind of cooperation could make a big difference.

Which leads us to our next theme; “The Perfect Storm: Search, Shop, Buy.”
A phrase popularized by Sebastian Junger in his book of the same name, a Perfect Storm is formed when several events occur simultaneously, which, taken individually would be far less powerful than the result of their combination. Unlike the meteorological kind, this digital one is strengthened by new rounds of intense innovation giving rise to a positive, advancing force that holds great promise for travel, tourism and hospitality.

The three forces at play are:
1. The traveler diaspora,
2. The business model blur, and
3. The disrupted value chain.

The Traveler Diaspora
Number one: the traveler diaspora. In just over a decade, online travel has grown to a point where tens of millions of travelers click hundreds of millions of times on tens of thousands of sites, 24-7-365, around the world. A diaspora refers to the dispersion of a people outside of their original homeland who continue to retain a common bond. We now have a diaspora of travelers scattered around the globe with a common quest of finding their perfect trip online.

While visiting countless travel sites every day, travelers create untold customer touch points and obscure the point-of-sale along the way. The traveler diaspora searches, connects, shops, shares and memorializes in fantastically unprecedented ways.

The Business Model Blur
Number two: the business model blur. The growth of ad and referral-based revenue is challenging the dominance of traditional bookings-driven business models for travel industry intermediaries. Hybrid business models are sprouting everywhere. PPC and PPA are the new commission and markup.

Another business model blur is unfolding now as airlines work diligently to unbundle their services so, for example, a center seat will be sold as a unique product. Why are travel professionals repeatedly shocked when time-honored things such as merchant models and unbundled pricing penetrate our industry? Telephone and cable companies have been using bundled pricing schemes for years to offer extras like caller ID, premium channels and pay-per-view events. A la carte pricing has barely scratched the surface in the travel and tourism industry.

The Disrupted Value Chain
Number three: the disrupted value chain. Travel’s value chain has customers on one end – leisure, business, meetings, groups – and suppliers on the other – air, hotel, car, cruise, activities. In the middle are intermediaries and influencers. Its simple: whatever role you think a company plays, double check your premises.

Airlines launch OTA-like applications. Hoteliers launch social networks. Bed banks acquire cruise-sellers. Consolidators feed new channels. And so on.

The Caribbean’s Perfect Storm is not one to be afraid of, its one to embrace. Batten down the hatches we must. But we must also raise our sails to the great wind that is blowing through our industry. This wind of change is the opportunity brought by disruption; new travelers, new paradigms, and new media. Raise your sails. Catch the wind and race onward to new shores.

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