“There’s a big turn in the market right now for more foreign speaking people cruising through the Caribbean. We’re really trying to cater to that market and this seemed like a great way to do it.”
– Eddie Parish, Director of Operations, Out Island Charters
Executive Overview
Out Island Charters caters to some of the world’s biggest cruise lines such as Holland America, Costa, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Disney, Carnival and MSC Cruises. The company offers a variety of tours designed to showcase the best of St. Maarten.
Out Island Charters is a family-owned and operated tour company based on the beautiful island of St. Maarten. Since 1987, the company has offered land and sea tours, from snorkeling to sightseeing excursions, aboard powerboats, catamarans, and buses.
Looking to better serve island guests, Out Island Charters contacted AudioConexus to help create a unique island tour to accommodate growing foreign language markets arriving by ship. The company wanted to achieve better performance by offering premium tours to the major cruise lines via an automated GPS commentary solution that was reliable and easy for non-technical staff to operate.
Business Challenges
Out Island Charters showcases its St. Maarten home base of beaches, lagoons, mountains, five-star hotels and much more. With leading cruise lines arriving into port and greater numbers of international passengers eager to experience the 37-mile isle, it was more important than ever to raise the quality of tours to meet the changing needs of off-shore excursion buyers.
With cruise lines seeking premium off-shore excursions to sell to passengers, Out Island Charters saw the opportunity to replace its live-guide tour narration with high quality automated tours to combat declining sales. The company also wanted to attract more sophisticated travelers of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds.
The company could not afford to service emerging markets using live multilingual guides who were hard to find and harder to train. Consistency of brand experience was a key goal for Out Islands, so it looked to AudioConexus for help in creating new tours that would achieve higher customer satisfaction ratings.
Solution
Although Out Islands Charters has been providing services to cruise lines for several years, it needed a solution capable of supporting the simultaneous delivery of multi-language tours for guests on its buses. The company turned to AudioConexus to write and produce new tours designed to accurately deliver commentary at the right place and time using GPS technology via wireless receivers and headsets. Engaging content was produced to increase high value interactions and customer satisfaction with cruise line passengers.
“Just our first year in doing business with MSC and Costa, it went from a tour that would cancel sometimes due to low participation to selling out almost every call that they were here! We’re still the only people doing this on a large scale which really sets us apart and is a really good selling point with the cruise lines.”
– Eddie Parish, Director of Operations, Out Island Charters
Key Outcomes
Being first to market with premium tours backed by engaging and entertaining stories enabled Out Island Charters to gain an immediate edge over competing tourism experiences on the island. In addition to higher quality tours, the company was the first to invest in foreign language experiences, further differentiating its business as St. Maarten’s premier tour operator. Tours are provided in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish with Mandarin to be added.
Due to the success of its multi-language sightseeing tours, Out Island Charters has recently launched a new tour called “St. Maarten Hidden Treasures.” This tour encompasses a power boat ride to Grand Case, a little town on the French side of the island known as the culinary capital of the Caribbean. Guest satisfaction ratings have gone way up, and the company continues to expand its business as a result of increased ridership and revenue.
“We had these people that had been on the tour 12 or 13 times and they came back again and heard our new audio tour and they loved it – it had been the best one they’d ever been on! It’s great when our customers know the product and they love that we’ve improved.”
– Eddie Parish, Director of Operations, Out Island Charters
Business Results
- Significant Rise in Revenues and Profits
- Saved Time and Increased Productivity
- Higher Guest Satisfaction Ratings
- Happier Staff
Only AudioConexus
AudioConexus customers share a vision for engaging storytelling. Our professional storytellers are trained for GPS audio delivery, providing seamless, integrated experiences that mesh with advanced technology and propel growth.
AudioConexus Creative Services solutions are employed internationally, giving sightseeing operators worldwide advantages over companies that don’t place a high value on narrative.
The most underrated skill in tourism today is the ability to tell a great story. Emotional engagement leaves lasting impressions. Companies that rely strictly on facts and figures miss the mark–and miss amazing opportunities.
Tell compelling stories and your company will be transformed in big ways.
If you’re an ambitious tour operator who wants to attract new customers and promote your competitive advantages, learn why AudioConexus Creative Services are right for you.
