| Charlotte Amalie, St.
Thomas, USVI –
January 2010 – The radio show
host and executive producer of two nationally syndicated radio shows, Travel
WITH Stephanie Abrams and Travelers411,
is winding up the first three weeks of a four-week long Caribbean adventure
designed to bring her millions of listeners up-to-date on where to go,
where to stay, where to dine and what to do in a variety of locations in
the Caribbean. Since arriving in the Caribbean on January 6th, Stephanie
Abrams has visited and broadcast from San Juan, Puerto Rico checking out
the brand new Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino, covered St. Lucia
visiting a variety of resorts, hotels and unique sites only found on this
island and broadcasting back to the US on radio and globally streaming
and iPod-cast from the Marigot Bay Hotel beside Marigot Marina, and St.
Thomas, US Virgin Islands where her shows originated from the Ritz-Carlton.
Abrams next stop is Ponce, Puerto Rico where her shows will broadcast from
The Melia Hotel in downtown Ponce which is across the street from Ponce’s
historic firehouse.
Abrams’ tour is designed to remind her audience of three million listeners on Saturday and six million listeners on Sunday that the Caribbean is diverse in its offerings to the traveler. “I purposely selected very different island offerings as a means of reminding my audiences that the Caribbean is not just about sun and sand. While my mission is to introduce my listeners and web visitors to my award-winning family of websites to destinations and suppliers in the travel industry that I believe they will return home inspired, enriched, enhanced and uplifted, I’m also very focused on what I call the ‘platinum’ rather than the ‘plastic’ experience. Platinum experiences are authentic, rich and provide lasting memories as opposed to plastic experiences which may entertain for an afternoon but do not provide the kind of experience you would treasure for a lifetime. The places we are broadcasting from on this Caribbean swing have been selected to provide my listeners with information designed to show them the differences and unique benefits of each island destination I have chosen to visit.” Abrams (www.sAbrams.com) points out the uniqueness of each location starts with location but doesn’t end there. “The Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino also has a spa and a 57,000 square foot pool deck with an infinity pool and bar area and a spectacular view of San Juan and the cruise port, is a fifteen minute drive to the airport, and is across a cul-de-sac from the Puerto Rico Convention Center. The pre-and-post cruise passenger is close to the port, the airport, Old San Juan, its shopping and sights and an easy place to hit the trail for El Yunque, Puerto Rico’s lush rain forest. St. Lucia’s Marigot Bay Hotel is a prime example of elegant tropical suites with all the comforts of home located on a protected harbor where you’ll find yachts docked of the quality one expects to see in Monte Carlo or Marbella. Their pool area is wonderful and they ferry their guests to a variety of beaches near and far to fit their interests in sunning, swimming, snorkeling or scuba diving. These two properties and our upcoming visit to Ponce are designed to focus on hotels which deliver an incredible experience for the guest but are not beachfront locations,” Abrams continues. The location of choice to focus her listeners’ attention on beachfront experiences was St. Thomas, choosing the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas as the place from which her shows would broadcast and where she based herself during her stay in the US Virgin Islands. In addition to having key personnel from the resort and its General Manager, Marc Langevin as radio guests explaining the unique features of this upscale property whose mission of exceeding guests’ expectations is achieved minute-by-minute by the well-trained staff focused on providing hospitality at its best, Abrams notes that she was pleased that several ‘celebrity’ St. Thomas residents made a special effort to join her at the Ritz-Carlton to be guests on her shows. “You have no idea how very pleased I was to welcome Addie Ottley, the owner of Ottley Communications and host of the most listened to radio show in St. Thomas, USVI, heard mornings on WSTA. If there’s a radio playing in St. Thomas in the morning, it’s tuned to hear what Addie Ottley has to say today. Everybody knows Addie’s voice and everyone listens to hear what’s on his mind today and they have for decades! I was truly humbled that he made time in his busy schedule to come to Red Hook where the Ritz-Carlton is located to be on the air with me! He is a star and a legend so it was truly an honor. And then we were joined by Richard Doumeng, Managing Director of Bolongo Bay Resort, a ‘beachcomber’s delight’ here in St. Thomas, who was named Caribbean Hotelier of the Year at the 2010 Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association Marketplace in San Juan two weeks ago at which I had the pleasure of being present when he received his award. Trudi Prior, President and General manager of Coral World Ocean Park here joined us as well along with a number of people whose companies provide everything from yacht charters to sunset cruising and other water sports. But Dr.Alex Randall, host of WSTA’s radio show, The Good News Guy, and Professor of Communication at the University of the Virgin Islands based here in St. Thomas, ended his visit to our Travelers411 (www.Travelers411.com) broadcast by inviting me to participate in a lecture to his class on Interpersonal Communications which was such a treat for me. One of the students in this well-attended class is actually an employee here at the Ritz-Carlton. It was fascinating meeting with them and talking about how what we think we are communicating is not always understood in the way we mean what we are saying due to cultural differences. It was a practical experience in what travelers learn everyday and I truly enjoyed the opportunity to meet his student and visit their beautiful campus. We’re delighted that we have been able to create and produce great programming to feature St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix with wonderful online content managed by my technical team who have done a fantastic job creating our USVI photo galleries, the archived audio for all ten shows we have now broadcast from the USVI, with six shows broadcast from St. Thomas and two each from St. John and St. Croix. When we believe in a destination, we get behind it and its resources for the traveler. St. Thomas is a wonderful tropical playground that more Americans need to visit and spend time in. We’re here a week and I just hate to leave!” Abrams leaves St. Thomas,
US Virgin Islands today making her way to Ponce for this weekend’s radio
show broadcasts. “I can’t wait to visit the historic firehouse in Ponce,
Puerto Rico, which is across from the Melia Hotel where we will be broadcast
my two nationally syndicated radio shows on January 30th and 31st. In addition
to interviewing people related to tourism in Puerto Rico’s southern region,
we’ll be talking with Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, a supporting
sponsor of the NYTimes Travel Show. Since San Juan is often a port-of-call
for NCL this is a perfect time to learn about their new ship, Norwegian
Epic. My audiences will have another weekend of immersion in America’s
tropics! Hopefully, what we have done in this four week period will give
my listeners some new places to consider and motivate them to put the Caribbean
destinations we have featured at the top of their list of 'Must Visit'
places,” Abrams concludes.
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