SOTIC 2015 CURACAO: AN INTERVIEW WITH JETBLUE CEO ROBIN HAYES
By JJosepha News
Twitter.com/JJosephaNews
Willemstad, Curacao. The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) State of The Industry Conference (SOTIC) 2015 will be held in Curacao this week and another of the distinguished speakers will be Robin Hayes, president and chief executive officer of JetBlue Airways, one of the world’s most acclaimed airlines.
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes
JetBlue also partners with more than 40 top airlines across the globe to give customers access to destinations on six continents.
Hayes joined JetBlue in 2008 and served as the company’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer until becoming president of the airline in January 2014.
In February 2015, he was appointed as JetBlue’s third chief executive officer. Prior to joining JetBlue, Hayes was British Airways’ executive vice president for the Americas. Over the span of a wide-ranging 19-year career with British Airways, he also served as area general manager for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
In response to an initial approach to Hayes regarding his upcoming presentation at the conference, Sebastian White, manager, executive communications at JetBlue, explained, "Mr Hayes plans to talk about JetBlue’s history growing in the Caribbean and our plans for the future. He will also speak about intention to significantly expand our holiday packaging business called JetBlue Getaways.”
Hayes kindly agreed to take time out of his busy schedule to answer some additional question:
Josefina Josepha: How can JetBlue help strengthen or create strategic partnerships, alliances and or affiliations that would or could assist empower Curacao’s "tourist destination status" to penetrate emergent tourist markets and/or help dominate existing markets?
Robin Hayes: We’re working hard to raise awareness of Curacao as a top destination in the region. It hasn’t always been easy to get to the island from the northeastern United States, so we have some work to do just to get it on everyone’s radar. We’re doing that through things like advertising and social media and promoting Curacao as a great holiday destination through our JetBlue Getaways product. JetBlue has assets and access to customers in the northeast, and we’ve been working with the tourism board and hoteliers to together amplify our message so Curacao is considered as the "it" destination. Once people visit Curacao they love it — it’s just getting people here that first time.
JJ: What type of "favourable" medium, environment and or relationship would contribute to JetBlue fully maximizing air arrivals to Curacao?
RH: The local community in Curacao has been very supportive of JetBlue’s service. One strategy we’re using to grow traffic is to grow JetBlue Getaways, our vacation package business. The more people that utilize Getaways, the more profitable a route becomes – and that helps make the case for adding more flights. The better the tourism product and the more that visitors enjoy their stay in Curacao, the more likely they are to come home and tell friends to go. We can provide the seats, but they need to provide an excellent product and experience for customers.
JJ: What are your current load factors and, in brief, what are your current and future plans for Curacao compared to those for the Caribbean basin and Latin American countries in this region?
RH: The Curacao – New York route is only ten months old but it has performed quite well. Our planes are full. We have the only nonstop option between the island and New York. Like every market, our goal is to grow demand to support additional flights. Today we are offering two flights per week but we are hopeful we will be able to increase service to Curacao in the near future. Stay tuned. The Caribbean and Latin America represents one-third of our network and it’s where much of our growth is concentrated right now. In just two weeks we’ll add Antigua as our 28th regional destination.
JJ: Curacao presently hosts "Curacao Pride", where does JetBlue stand in relation to the LGBT community as a target market?
RH: The LGBT community is incredibly important to JetBlue and we are proud to support many great community organizations across our network. Curacao’s reputation as a leading LGBT destination is well known and we are delighted to welcome all travelers to the island aboard our service from the USA.
JJ: Beyond the direct tourism impact from air travellers’ arrival, in what other areas can/would JetBlue contribute to Curacao’s educational and socio-economic cultural progress and development?
RH: Sustainability is a huge focus for JetBlue. Part of the economic sustainability of this route is tied to the sustainability of the island environment. People come from around the globe for the pristine water and the beauty of destinations like Curacao. We have a big stake in ensuring that across the region the waters and the landscape are valued and preserved. We know that the natural landscape is vital for tourism development. We’ve partnered with a nonprofit called The Ocean Foundation to explore ways we can encourage communities and governments to better protect the regional environment. At JetBlue, we have crewmembers who meet with stakeholders around the Caribbean and through these conversations we learn the importance of things like local coral and fish populations to the hotels our customers are staying in. Curacao is in great shape on that front – so how can we help you keep it that way?"
The SOTIC 2015 Conference is scheduled to open on Wednesday and concludes on Friday.
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