Carnival Corporation Rallies the Industry to Show THE

CARIBBEAN IS OPEN
 

Silver Anvil
Crisis Communications
 

Submitted By: Carnival Corporation with LDWW

© 2018, Public Relations Society of America, Inc.
 2018 Silver Anvil Awards
Title of Entry: Carnival Corporation Rallies the Industry to Show THE CARIBBEAN IS OPEN
Agency: LDWW Client: Carnival Corporation
Budget: Confidential

THE PERFECT STORM: In the span of a few weeks in the Fall of 2017, Hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria swept
through the Caribbean, leaving major damage and destruction in their wake and marking the most devastating and
expensive hurricane season in the region’s history. Day after day, media stories showed jarring images of the
storms’ horrific aftermath. But what those stories didn’t show was almost just as detrimental as the hurricanes
themselves – that the majority of the area was unharmed, and the perception that the entire region was closed
had the potential to keep travelers from visiting the area’s 7,000+ islands, all of which heavily depend on tourism.

The cruise industry, which brings more than eight million tourists to the region each year, immediately
experienced the fallout from the perception of the storms’ devastation with numerous cancellations and fewer
bookings. The Caribbean is the largest region for cruising – a single cruise season generates $2.4 billion for the
region, 55,000 jobs and $842 million in wages. Without cruise travelers, the economies of destinations would be in
danger of collapse, including those impacted by the storms and in desperate need of capital for rebuilding efforts.

Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise company with nine cruise line brands and more than 100 ships that
carry about half of all cruisers, knew that it would take a sustained, thoughtful and unified effort across many
organizations to turn the tide. So, the company and LDWW teamed with the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association
(FCCA) to rally an integrated group of cruise lines, industry associations, media partners and loyal cruisers with a
united mission – provide support to the handful of islands that suffered damaged and were working to recover,
while spreading awareness that beyond those islands, the Caribbean was very much OPEN FOR BUSINESS.

INSIGHTS & ANALYSIS: Following the hurricanes, Carnival Corporation and its eventual industry partners for the
“Caribbean is Open” campaign saw dips in bookings paired with many cancellations – behaviors that had the
potential to severely impact travel companies’ earnings and the economic vitality of Caribbean destinations. It was
widely recognized that these behaviors were being driven by non-stop media coverage depicting damage and
destruction – even though close to 90% of the region had little to no damage from the storms, but consumer
perceptions driven by media reports painted a much different picture.
- Robin Farley, UBS: “Hurricane disruptions have led to much more disruption and uncertainty in the near term
than the cruise industry has seen from hurricanes.”
- Scott Koepf, Avoya Travel: “The news has been focused on the worst scenarios — tragedies such as Puerto Rico
and Barbuda — and not on the 90 percent of the Caribbean that is unaffected. And what the media shows affects
attitudes in all directions.”
- Uf Tukel, WMPH Vacations: “The storms really are affecting bookings. We are hearing from guests that they are a
bit hesitant about booking the Caribbean.”
- James Hardiman, Wedbush Securities: “The industry’s economic losses could add up quickly. It won’t take many
cancellations or much port-closure time to do serious damage to cruise companies’ bottom lines.”
- According to independent research commissioned by Carnival Corporation ahead of its campaign, consumer
awareness that the Caribbean was largely undamaged and open as a viable vacation option was only at 61%.

PLANNING: With these insights in mind, Carnival Corporation created a multi-faceted, million-dollar campaign
targeting North American consumers, with the following objectives:
- Create a truer picture in media stories and social conversation about the Caribbean that were heavily influencing
consumer perception, and subsequently, consumer behavior for travel to the region;
- Help to speed up recovery efforts in the region and reduce the amount of time that the damage (and perceived
damage) had an effect on cruise companies' and the related destinations' sales;
- Increase awareness among potential travelers that the Caribbean – made up of more than one million square
miles and 100 ports, the majority of which were unaffected by the hurricanes – is OPEN FOR BUSINESS and ready
to welcome visitors.

CLEANING UP THE DAMAGE (EXECUTION): The team undertook a two-month campaign targeting current and
potential travelers to educate them about the region’s more than one million square miles that were anxiously
awaiting travelers with the goal of reinvigorating demand for Caribbean vacations. The campaign also focused on
helping destinations that were affected by showcasing their resiliency and tireless recovery efforts, to attract
travelers whose visits would help generate much needed economic activity. The team implemented a build-up
phase to gather necessary support and donations, followed by a phase of spreading the word as far as possible.

- Industry-Wide Coalition: Engaged partners across the industry to create a united coalition that could work
together to change consumers perceptions from all angles. This group included: Cruise Companies: 18 total cruise
lines from across the world joined the team; Industry Associations: Engaged Cruise Lines Industry Association,
U.S. Travel Association and American Society of Travel Agents to join. ASTA was especially key, as the organization
enlisted travel agents around the country critical to selling cruise vacations; Destinations: Worked with islands
throughout the Caribbean and respective tourism bureaus and government leaders to gather the latest updates

Copyright 2018, Public Relations Society of America, Inc.

 and imagery to help further tell the story of how the vast majority of the Caribbean was not impacted and never
stopped being open for business. Also worked directly with destination partners to create and distribute press
materials; Media Partners: Partnered with key media organizations that provide trusted information for cruise
travelers and travel agent, to organize regular schedules of storytelling content to be published and promoted on
their sites and social channels; Cruise Loyalists: Collected testimonials, images and videos from travelers who
visited the region following the storms to support the claim that the vast majority of the Caribbean was open.
- Giving Support Where it was Needed: The team knew that while the majority of the Caribbean was unharmed by
the hurricanes, the few islands that were would need support quickly to be able to recuperate faster, and in turn
be able to welcome visitors sooner, helping the narrative: Relief Efforts: Cruise lines transported supplies, used
ships to help evacuate those who were stranded, and even loaning a ship to FEMA to house relief workers and
displaced residents; Donations: Donated a combined $15.5 million to help rebuild and restore the damaged
Caribbean destinations; Celebrity Fundraiser: For the first time in Spanish-language television history, Telemundo
and Univision (plus NBC) simultaneously broadcast Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez’s telethon concert, which
was sponsored by Carnival Corporation, to raise funds for hurricane victims with the help of Jamie Foxx, Zoe
Saldana, Ellen DeGeneres, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Vin Diesel, Derek Jeter, Bruno Mars, Mary J. Blige, DJ Khaled,
Maroon 5, Daddy Yankee and Demi Lovato. Millions tuned in for the program which raised over $35 million.
- Spreading the Word: Website: Launched CaribbeanIsOpen.com website to spread information about the region,
featuring footage and updates, a map showing open ports, a Q&A addressing travelers’ questions, testimonials
from travelers who recently visited and more; News: Issued news releases to spread a united message to media,
investors and consumers that the industry was providing support to the region, the best way to help islanders is
to travel there, and that the Caribbean is open for business; Interviews: CEOs took part in interviews with
national and local broadcast, print and online publications to spread the campaign’s message; Media Call: Hosted
a media call to share up-to-date info about the true scope of the damage and answer questions to help change
the tone of ongoing coverage; Social Media: Caribbean destinations, tourism bureaus and media posted
numerous up-to-date pictures and live videos to showcase the region being open for business; Customer Comms:
Updated customers who were already booked to ensure they were aware of the status of their trips to prevent
cancellations from wary guests; PSA Campaign: Engaged 60+ celebrities as spokespeople as part of an online and
broadcast PSA campaign. Some of the most recognizable participants included Jennifer Lopez, Morgan Freeman,
Alex Rodriguez, Matt Damon, Jay Leno, Ed Asner and Kobe Bryant; SMT: Produced tour in support of the
campaign with TV/radio interviews nationwide. Distributed web audio features reaching sites and radio stations
across the country; Ad Campaign: Launched online advertising to extend the audience for the campaign message.

THE RECOVERY (EVALUATION): Jack Richards, CEO of Caribbean tour operator: “Tourism boards and the travel
industry have done a tremendous job of communicating that the majority of islands in this destination received
little or no damage and are welcoming travelers. They have contributed to a rapid recovery for the region, which is
currently pacing ahead of expectations for 2017 and 2018 travel.”

- Create a truer picture in media stories and social conversation about the Caribbean that were heavily
influencing consumer perception, and subsequently, consumer behavior for travel to the region
Media Results: Work to ensure media coverage of the Caribbean region accurately portrayed the situation at hand
drove more than 14,000 placements. Impressions totaled 7+ billion. Most notable was an AP story that drove
heavy syndication across the country; Media Call: 71 journalists including Bloomberg, Fox News, NPR, Reuters and
USA Today, joined the call, many of which then wrote positive stories; News: Collective team issued more than 20
news releases and related news pushes; PSA Campaign: Videos racked up more than 3 million video views online.
Social Sharing: Related stories were shared on social media platforms more than 25,000 times.
- Help to speed up recovery efforts in the region and reduce the amount of time that the damage (and perceived
damage) has an effect on cruise companies’ and the related destinations’ sales
Carnival Corp CEO: “I believe this campaign enabled us to maintain pricing integrity, while at the same time
aggressively stimulating demand.”; Carnival Corp Q4 Earnings: Carnival Corporation’s business in the Caribbean in
the fourth quarter of 2017 resulted in better than expected results and higher yields. The early sales volume for
2018 in the Caribbean included more sales volume at higher yields than the previous year during the same period;
Norwegian Cruise CEO: “Over the last several weeks we have seen consumer demand continue to accelerate for
Caribbean sailings and booking volumes have reached pre-hurricane levels.”; Royal Caribbean CEO: "During the
several weeks of the storms, Caribbean bookings dropped precipitously, both for the hurricane period and for the
period beyond. None of that is surprising, but what is surprising is how quickly our bookings in the period
recovered. The drop-off in bookings was very rapid, but the recovery was also rapid. Today, virtually all our
bookings in the region are back to pre-storm levels.”

- Increase awareness among potential travelers that the Caribbean is open and ready to welcome visitors
Perception Changes: Prior to the campaign, only 61% of consumers were aware that the Caribbean was largely
undamaged and open. After a week of the campaign, perception rose to 63%. And after one month, it was up to
nearly 80% – a 19-point jump. Most compelling is the sales performance noted above showing the campaign’s
message resonated in the most relevant way with consumers understanding region was open for travel.

Copyright 2018, Public Relations Society of America, Inc.