THE CARIBBEAN (Aug. 3, 2012) - The Caribbean Tourism Development Company (CTDC), the Caribbean region's tourism marketing and business development unit, is about to relaunch its official vacation website, www.CaribbeanTravel.com, with an enhanced design and search capability. CTDC is seeking editorial content partners to provide additional consumer value. A Request for Proposal (RFP) has been issued with an August 10, 2012 deadline for responses.

The CTDC was created in 2007 as a joint venture private company by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA).

"We expect that our revitalized website will set a new standard for promoting our Caribbean region and become the cornerstone of our cooperative regional marketing for the Caribbean brand," said Senator Ricky Skerritt, the CTO chairman and co-chair of CTDC. "This cutting-edge website will provide consumers with full responsive web design implementation for optimal user experience across desktop, tablet and mobile devices," he said.

Richard J. Doumeng, CHTA president and CTDC co-chair, stated: "The website's advanced searching capabilities will make finding the ideal Caribbean resort easier than ever for consumers, as well as allow hoteliers,restaurants, attractions and other visitor activities the ability to showcase their properties like never before."

 The destination sections of the website will be comprised of country branded micro-sites that will instantly allow the individual country brands to shine and showcase the best they have to offer. Fresh editorial content powered by the best publishers from around the world will also ensure that the website continues to be a leading resource for consumers to learn about and experience all things Caribbean.

The RFP seeks content partners with expertise in the following areas: food, history and culture, diving, meetings, adventure, spa and wellness, music, golf, weddings, boating and yachting, faith-based travel and general leisure travel.

The CTDC is looking for a 12-month content creation/sharing agreement with links to a landing page on CaribbeanTravel.com from the various partner sites.  Social media coverage and blogging will be an integral part of all content agreements.

CTDC is prepared to feature all editorial partners with their brand exposure on CaribbeanTravel.com as well as at both CTO and CHTA events.  The company will also entertain revenue sharing for ads on the editorial landing pages.

Successful applicants must be allied members of either CTO or CHTA or willing to become members of either organization to participate as partners.

A deadline of August 10, 2012 has been set for responses.  For more information on the RFP, interested applicants should contact Rafael Cardozo at Tambourine at 954-975-2220 or by e-mail at [email protected].

ABOUT CTDC
The Caribbean Tourism Development Company (CTDC) is a marketing and business development unit, owned equally by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). Its mission is to own, promote, protect, advance and enhance the Caribbean brand. The CTDC combines the resources of the Caribbean region's destinations, accommodations and service providers to create a viable, cohesive, business unit that is able to identify commercial opportunities and allow the members of CHTA and CTO to benefit collectively from those opportunities in ways that individually they could not. In all its endeavors the company will engage only in activities that honour the Caribbean brand and benefit the members of CHTA and CTO.