Happy National Senior Citizens Day

On National Senior Citizens Day we are encouraged to explore the diversity of aging experiences and challenge the dominant narrative on aging by seeking fulfillment as we grow older. 

Indeed, more of our elders are eschewing retirement (and golf courses) to work longer into their later years, thereby enriching our lives with their experience and accumulated knowledge, so we should work to dismantle bias against our golden workforce. 

Let’s remember that our elders equipped us with the values and skills that enable us to thrive in the modern world. Take time to help our seniors cope with the often-annoying challenges of our highly technical age. In turn, you will learn from them. 

Also, remember our senior citizens have invested their time to strengthen and energize our communities through service, volunteer activities, political organizing and activism.

The Caribbean is also getting set for another important hospitality event this fall as the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) presents the return of the Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF), from November 29 to December 1, 2023, at the Hilton Miami Airport Blue Lagoon.

This year’s theme is “A New Era of Caribbean Tourism: Balancing Tradition, Technology and Community”.

Delegates can look forward to captivating sessions, a trade show, and networking opportunities.

To secure your spot among the tribe of “CHIEF” innovators, visit www.chtachief.com

AA expands Caribbean airlift this winter

As winter approaches, American Airlines is set to bring sunshine and warmth to travelers with an expanded flight schedule to the Caribbean. 

From daily flights connecting Charlotte to the beautiful Bahamas to thrice daily flights from Miami to Barbados and St. Maarten, this winter promises an array of travel options for those seeking sun-soaked getaways.

Here’s the scoop:

• Daily flights from Charlotte (CLT) to Eleuthera, Bahamas (ELH), Georgetown, Bahamas (GGT), and Marsh Harbour, Bahamas (MHH) between Feb. 15 and April 3.

• Daily flights from Dallas (DFW) to Nassau, Bahamas (NAS) starting Feb. 15.

• Between Jan. 8 and April 3, increased frequency from Miami (MIA)to 

Anguilla (AXA) – twice daily

Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI) – thrice daily

St. Maarten (SXM) – thrice daily

Tortola, British Virgin Islands (EIS) – three flights on Saturdays

The importance of keyword planning for search

Keyword planning is one of the basics of a great digital strategy. It means research and analysis on words that are relevant to your brand and target group (TG). The better and richer the keyword planning, the easier it is for the audience to find you. Here are some advantages:

1. Enhanced SEO: Optimizing and enriching your website’s content, tags, meta tags header and URL with relevant keywords help to increase your search score.
2. Improved organic traffic: Websites with higher search rankings are easier to find and therefore attract great organic traffic from key audiences. Use keyword planning to land audiences on pages where they can take action on your website like buy, subscribe, etc.
3. Competitive advantage: Keep track of your competitors’ keywords to identify gaps in your planning and also capitalize on the weaknesses of your competition.
4. Content Update: A well-researched and content-driven website with proper keyword planning always serves fresh content. To maintain your relevance with the planned keywords, new content should be updated regularly.
5. Negative Keywords: These are keywords with which you don’t want your website or pages to be associated. Understanding negative keywords for your TG and web property can increase the value of your search campaigns and increase ROI.

Keyword planning is essential for your web property’s health. This level of optimization requires an investment in time, but the ROI is always worth the effort. Reach out to us if you need help in planning keywords for your brand.

Medical Moment

Genomic Surveillance in the Caribbean

Ancestry mapping to trace relatives or identify genetic risk factors for diseases is commonly used in genomics. Genomics has also been widely applied to tracking infectious diseases by sequencing the genomes of bacteria, parasites and viruses. 

Genomic surveillance is the process of constantly monitoring such pathogens and analyzing their genetic similarities and differences.

Specific emphasis on genomic surveillance of high-priority pathogens emerged as a new service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) recently received laboratory equipment in collaboration with the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to support genomic surveillance at its Medical Microbiology Laboratory to better detect and respond to emerging diseases in the Caribbean region.

According to Dr. Michelle Hamilton, Head, Laboratory Services and Networks at CARPHA, “The acquisition of the instruments will serve to advance our laboratory productivity, shorten turnaround times, and reduce costs per sample. Overall, the instruments will improve sample processing accuracy.” 

Internationally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has played an essential role in coordinating the development of the 10-year Global genomic surveillance strategy for pathogens with pandemic and epidemic potential between 2022-2032. The initiative is powered by a vision to unite, inform and strengthen genomic surveillance efforts at country, regional, and global levels.

MPE Caribbean Report

In this week’s MPE Caribbean Report, we put the spotlight on a tourism ambassador from the Cayman Islands, who shares immense pride for his homeland. We caught up with Ashton Ebanks during a visit for the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association’s PAMAC Summit this summer.

To view video click HERE

Marketplace Excellence Corporation (MPE) is a global public relations, marketing and media company.