By Homer Molina
For the eleventh consecutive summer, St. Kitts will welcome some of the world’s biggest musical acts for a three-day festival. Though the small island of St. Kitts might seem a strange destination for an internationally renowned music festival, this exotic local has consistently lured top talents. Representing a wide variety of musical styles, past performers at the St. Kitts Music Festival include The Temptations, Chaka Khan, Wyclef Jean, Eve, Busta Rhymes, Hugh Masekala and Kenny Rogers.
This year’s festival - scheduled for June 21-23 - will feature plenty of award-winning artists, but a unique focus sets the event apart from stateside festivals. Since the beginning, the St. Kitts Music Festival has been committed to showcasing the finest talent from not only the island, but throughout the Caribbean. Hence, you will be exposed to exotic sounds that can’t be found at home.
An example of this Caribbean flavor is the Small Axe Band, a native St. Kittian reggae collective performing on Thursday. Besides being recognized as the “best local reggae band” since 1980, Small Axe Band has been a longtime favorite of festival-goers. In fact, these St. Kittian legends performed at the first St. Kitts Music Festival in 1996. Led by the energetic Livingstone Samuel, Small Axe Band consistently wows the crowd despite being virtually unknown outside the Caribbean. Also on Thursday, be sure to catch Machel Montano HD - one of the world’s most popular soca performers.
Even some of the headlining acts are native to the Caribbean, despite selling millions of records throughout the world. On Friday, the lineup features three incredibly popular acts - all of which produce unique takes on the Caribbean sound. Lady Saw, recognized as “the queen of dance hall,” has long been committed to the traditions of Jamaican music. However, she has also won a Grammy for a triple-platinum collaboration with Gwen Stefani, worked with Missy Elliot and performed extensively across the globe.
Following Lady Saw on Friday’s lineup will be Steel Pulse - one of the world’s most popular reggae bands - and Sean Paul - the chart-topping dance hall artist. Though the members of Steel Pulse and Sean Paul are all residents of Jamaica, the lineup represents a unique contrast of styles - a meeting of traditional reggae and the cutting edge of today’s popular music scene.
While Friday’s program provides a star-studded list of Caribbean-based artists, Saturday boasts a lineup that would make many stateside festivals jealous. The final day of the festival opens with two artists rooted in Caribbean musical tradition. Much like Friday’s lineup, a pair of unique Caribbean styles will be on display. Jazzique, an incredibly gifted Caribbean jazz musician, will open Saturday’s festivities on a smooth note. Following Jazzique is Maxi Priest, the world’s most popular solo reggae artist behind the legendary Bob Marley.
Later in the day, the festival will feature a trio of Grammy-recognized solo artists. First among these headliners is Ne-Yo - a platinum selling R&B artist currently signed to Def Jam Records. Next to take the stage is Michael Bolton, a name and voice known
throughout the world. Having won numerous awards and sold out arenas across the globe, Bolton brings his soothing sound to the relaxed environment of St. Kitts for the first time. Big Boi - one half of superstar rap duo Outkast - will end the festival on an energetic note.
The St. Kitts Music Festival is centrally located in Basseterre, the capital of the island. With many of the most popular resorts and restaurants located within walking distance - and many more just a short shuttle ride away - a night at the St. Kitts Music Festival is the perfect addition to a Caribbean vacation.
Including the popular performers mentioned above and many others, here is the complete schedule for the festival.
Thursday, June 21
Better Band
King Konris and Queen Anastasia
Royaltiez Band
Crazy - with the band Lejah
Alison Hinds
Small Axe Band
Machel Montano HD
Friday, June 22
Pan Tribute to Boots
Pluto Shervington
Tessanne Chin
Richie Stevens
Lady Saw
Steel Pulse
Sean Paul
Saturday, June 23
Jazzique
Maxi Priest
Ne-Yo
Michael Bolton
Big Boi of Outkast
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Blue Mondays: A True Thai Departure Be Travel Savvy Tips
By Hemant S
Now, here’s a room with a view. Most of us love the idea of a truly luxurious escape, but sometimes being in the middle of nowhere isn’t everyone’s idea of idyllic. That’s why we love the look of the Westin Siray Bay Resort and Spa, which opened just yesterday. Located on stunning Siray island, this luxurious 5* hotel boasts breathtaking ocean views and a secluded beach. Still, it is connected to Phuket by a bridge and is only an eight minute drive from Phuket town and 45 minutes from the airport. Phi Phi, James Bond, Similan and Maya islands are all a short boat trip away.
The Westin Siray Bay offers choice of tastefully furnished guest rooms, including suites and villas with private plunge pools and even rooftop relaxation areas with views across the bay. Dining here is an experience in iteself, with six fine restaurants to choose from. The Heavenly Spa offers four single treatment rooms and three couple treatment rooms - perfect for honeymooners or those on a romantic getaway. This hotel isn’t just for adults though - the Westin Kids’ Club keeps little ones entertained with thoughtful activities such as local crafts, open air movies and even stargazing.
Friendly Thai hospitality, an unbeatable location and contemporary style all combine at the gorgeous Westin Siray Bay to offer an unforgettable luxury holiday.
Read More Holiday Secrets on A True Thai Departure and many other Travel Trade Tips
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How social is your tourism business?
By Marek Shrapnel
Almost certainly the most frequent yet the most clear lapse we have heard is belief that offline strategy has nothing to do with internet promoting initiatives.
Maybe the most crucial approach when developing social marketing and advertising policy in travel and tourism industry is quality not quantity. The main focus should be reaching key influencers as well as establish a open social network, because social media is about setting up a dialogue, not feeding the audience. These essentials are repeatedly lost while companies conduct a social media promotion as they get very excited by what appears like an easy & mindless means to achieve a huge audience. This is counter-productive & absolutely misses the point of developing a credible and viral approach to set of contacts.
You need Social marketing in conjunction with all your Web presence. The Social Media is a modern market, with a original framework, but it overlaps with the established. More importantly it supports your online marketing, enhancing your Search engine marketing and online publicity in a dramatic way.
Every one Social network and channel has its own following and focus. You be able to do a lot of it yourself - However as a Hotel Manager or travel and tourism operator - don’t make this a full time employment.
There are numerous kinds of social media that frequently overlap. It is essential firstly clear classify social media in order to pick up the correct collection of social media that match to our travel and tourism industry strategic targets. Please keep in mind that you do not have to handle all social media websites to succeed in tourism industry. Every site is slightly diverse, which means a different approach might be essential.
Let us first of all to categorize services that could be used in your social media strategy:
Directories / portals for web promoting in travel and tourism
These are web sites that accumulate lists and high level information about added web sites or organizations, even just their contact details if they do not have a website. These are the online equivalent of the phone directory or else “yellow pages.”
All establishments should be listed there.
Samples: Google, Yahoo, DMOZ
Blogs for Tourism Industry Marketing.
Attached or integrated into your own internet site, a weblog is a system to bring articles or reviews (labeled as “posts”) on a regular basis. Blogs are well suited for news & announcements as well as regular updates related to your particular offering, niche, or yet place. A destination could use a blog to raise their visibility on search engines similar to Google or Yahoo, as well as to build engagement with their audience or to establish weight on a subject.
Microblogging for Social Media Marketing.
The ruler of the micro-blogging world is Twitter but further comparable sites continue living. Many liken the service to an open, collaborative chat network. Twitter has a restriction of 140 characters for each message, however users on these services also operate hyper links to images, blog content, as well as supplementary information of attention
Sample: Twitter
Platforms for content sharing for on line tourism promoting
These sites commonly concentrate in a exact kind of media & are a system to upload as well as spread out contents. For example, you can permit a video uploaded on YouTube to be used by any internet site, just like you could make available your photos to be re-used on other internet sites from Flickr.
Samples: YouTube, Flickr, Scribd
Social Bookmarking for Marketing in Tourism Industry
Social bookmarking services let you to store your preference online pages or internet bookmarks conveniently in one location and distribute them with other folks. For each one you be capable of supply annotations and/or suggestions. The more your web site is bookmarked by other, the more advantageous content it has.
Samples: Stumbleupon, Digg, Propeller, Delicious
Social Networking in tourism industry
Social networking web sites offer the most varied set of performance, & in numerous of these internet sites you observe flavors of the other sorts of social media, such as photograph sharing or conversation forums. Websites could orientate itself to specific groups; for instance, Facebook has a very personal, informal audience, whereas LinkedIn is where you desire locate the proficient communities.
Samples: Facebook, Linkedin
Author: Tourism Industry Marketing , Social Media Marketing specialist who serve buyers in tourism worldwide.
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