Executive of 'Visit Florida' to Present at Masterclass on Crisis Communications at CTC-28

Barry Pitegoff to focus on researching for crisis communications

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. October 14, 2008

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, September 12, 2005. A top level tourism researcher at VISIT FLORIDA, the private-public partnership that serves as the official tourism board for the State of Florida, will be one of the experts who will teach a MasterClass on crisis communications for the tourism industry at the 28th Annual Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC-28), taking place in the United States Virgin Islands next month.

Barry Pitegoff, the vice president of research for VISIT FLORIDA, will focus on how to use research to craft a credible and appealing message following a crisis. "Florida and the Caribbean have a lot in common and we face some of the same challenges when it comes to disasters," Mr. Pitegoff said.

He said he intends to walk CTC-28 delegates through these challenges and the process of how to figure out what to say, to whom to say it and when to communicate the message following a crisis.

"The target market needs to have a good, honest, credible knowledge of the rate at which the product is coming back and how good the product really is," Mr. Pitegoff stated, "and (there is a need) to assuage the worries and concerns of the different groups, including the consumers."

Mr. Pitegoff has directed the research programme for Florida tourism for 25 years and has a wealth of experience in destination tourism research, particularly in crisis situations. He led the research that determined VISIT FLORIDA's message in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, and after the four hurricanes that hit Florida last year.

Florida's tourism recovered quicker than that of any other US tourism destination following 9/11, Mr. Pitegoff said, and, despite last year's hurricanes, a record 76.8 million people took a vacation there, a three per cent increase over 2003.

"We are very pleased that Mr. Pitegoff has agreed to teach this MasterClass. He is recognised and respected as a veteran industry leader, and I am confident that delegates to CTC-28 will appreciate and value the opportunity to hear his perspective on how to approach research for crisis communications and how best to interpret and utilise the information gathered," said Hugh Riley, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)'s director of marketing for the Americas.

The MasterClass on crisis communications will examine some of the crises that the Caribbean has had to deal with in the recent past, including natural disasters and crime and how the communication was handled. It will also explore why the media seem obsessed with certain types of events.

Delegates attending this session will learn from presenters who have dealt successfully with major crises and the communications and public relations techniques that they employed.

"This MasterClass is a great opportunity for delegates to gain invaluable insight into this critical aspect of tourism communications because how we respond to crisis situations is critical in having the world continue to view the Caribbean as a place to come and enjoy a vacation. It is therefore, essential to communicate the message correctly," added Mr. Riley.

The MasterClass entitled, Crisis Communications for the Tourism Industry, is one of several which will be taught at the conference which will be held at the Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort in St. Thomas, USVI from Oct. 21-26, 2005. The conference, the region's premier tourism learning and networking event, is being organised by the CTO, in collaboration with the USVI department of tourism.

Information on CTC-28, including how to register, can be found on www.onecaribbean.org.