As we wrap up on the third week here on our study abroad trip, all I can say is I’m so grateful to be able to have this experience and make the friendships I have. This trip has taught me so much about the advertising and pr side of things in a different perspective internationally and travel aspects. I have valued every second learning about this island and marketing, as well as the experiences I have been able to have since being here.
This week we had the opportunity to get a visit from Vacation St Maarten’s marketing and social media manager, Gianira Arrindell. Vacation St Maarten is our client we are presented with for our final project in our classes. Our goal is to increase awareness of the Caribbean island St Maarten as well as increase tourist visits and engagement on social media platforms. Having the opportunity to speak with the social media and marketing manager for our client gave us a better understanding of our target audience, competitors, threats and strengths of our company, Vacation St Maarten. Within our social media analytics class, we have been researching our competitors as well as the strengths St Maarten has to offer using our research website Sprinklr. Sprinklr gives us the opportunity to search keywords related to our topic (St Maarten) and analyze the engagement on social media platforms to have a better understanding of what posts do well versus what doesn’t.
My sister and I also had the job of taking over UA in the Caribbean’s Social Media platforms for two days this week. We took the opportunity to give our followers a look at a day in the life of a student studying abroad here in St Maarten. On Thursday we went and explored Maho Beach, which is a famous beach here in the Caribbean known for planes flying over it and landing on the tarmac right behind you. This is one of the number 1 spots tourists come to see when visiting St Maarten. This beach is an important highlight of the island because it gives the island's tourists the opportunity to experience something they have never seen before and is important to the marketing and advertising strategies for the island. St Maarten is known for this unique beach which is why it is important to market and advertise this in their social media platforms.
On Friday we had an excursion planned where we took a catamaran boat to the neighboring islands Anguilla and Prickly Pear. This is where we got to see some of the clearest water in the whole Caribbean. You could literally scoop a cup of water up and see right through it. It was insane. Excursions are important for the island’s marketing and advertising teams as well. This helps draw people to the island to be able to snorkel, have a boat day, and relax while enjoying their time in the sun in St Maarten. On Saturday we got to take a ski lift all the way to the top of a mountain to enjoy a party called Elevate. This party happens the first week of every month and is an experience of a lifetime. You get to see the most amazing views of the island, party with your friends, and watch an amazing sunset from the top of the mountain. I did some research of the island before I came here to see what events were going on and excursions I could take while staying here for a month. I never once learned about Elevate until I got here and learned about it from fellow friends here at the resort. I think if Vacation St Maarten did a better job of advertising this party and getting content from this party more people would be made aware of this and want to come experience it because it really is one of the coolest things I got to experience and I’m so glad I went.
My time here in St Maarten is slowly coming to an end but I can say I am so glad I decided to study abroad here and experience this island. We have one more week to go and I’m so excited to see what this week holds. Although I am excited to go home and eat some good New York pizza I am so sad that this trip is coming to an end and I have to leave some of my friends that have become my family.
Love,
Kayla Ripp