Grenada has been open for tourism since last summer, and now the island’s making a new push to draw travelers — with a focus on authenticity. 

It’s called Grenada Rocks, and the new campaign looks to highlight the island’s rich and diverse culture. 

That’s “what many visitors are looking for,” says Kimron Corion, the Grenada Tourism Authority’s communications manager. 

To learn more, CJ caught up with Corion about Grenada Rocks and what’s next. 

What is Grenada Rocks?

Grenada Rocks is a celebration of everything that makes Grenada Carriacou and Petite Martinique wonderful.

However, we have chosen a different way to highlight this. We are focusing on authentic story telling through the eyes of our people. Everyone has an interesting story to tell that’s why we sought out a wide cross section of our sons and daughters of the soil and even in the diaspora. This what many visitors are looking for. To connect with our people and be inspired by our stories. This campaign will be a Transmedia Storytelling Project focusing on all forms of digital media including social media.

How did this project come about?

This project was born out of a brainstorming exercise involving the Communications and Marketing Teams. The teams wished to do a campaign with a difference focusing on our ambassadors speaking of why Grenada Rocks. We have refined this to include Grenadians of all walks of life in this storytelling campaign.

Who are some of the personalities you’re featuring? 

For phase 1 of this campaign, we will feature a mix of our local and international stars including Fashion designer Fe Noel, Carriacou’s Neal ‘Bassie’ Matheson, Petite Martinique’s Dwight Logan and our young international soca sensation Jevaughn John ‘V’ghn’.  And though it’s not a person, it has a personality of its own.  Our National dish oildown also makes a rather colorful and tasty appearance.

Culture is so vital to the travel experience in Grenada. How do you continue to tap into that?

We know that culture is something that motivates travel today and Grenada’s culture is so rich and diverse that it forms a significant part of our storytelling. For the parts of our deep culture that are readily shareable and visible, we continue to offer experiences surrounding our traditions, music and signature food that visitors can enjoy and appreciate.

What kind of response to Grenada Rocks have you seen so far? 

The response thus far has been fantastic, based on feedback from stakeholders, diaspora members, visitors and potential visitors; people are connecting with Grenada through the stories that we are telling. They are creating an emotional connection with the destination and that is exactly what we want. Online, our oildown video alone has surpassed 1 million views across the platforms it was posted on.

Do you have plans to expand the program further? 

The next step is to launch a User Generated content competition to encourage people online to post about their experience in Grenada and share their views on why Grenada Rocks. We have also procured Grenada Rocks branded virtual reality goggles and started creating 360 and VR style videos to give people a more immersive experience when engaging with destination Grenada online.

What’s your outlook for tourism in Grenada going forward? 

I believe that with the rollout of mass vaccination programs around the world that we will start seeing a rebound in tourism. I am very optimistic for what is to come. Grenada was recently listed by the CDC as a very Low Risk Country and the UK Government listed Grenada as one of 12 countries where it is safe to travel to this summer. Therefore, with campaigns like #GrenadaRocks keeping Grenada top on mind with travelers across the world, I foresee an uptake in tourism in Grenada in the very near future.

For more, visit Grenada Rocks.