Tourism meets the Internet
June 8th, 2017 -- “I aspire to create content that will promote and exemplify our history and culture as a Caribbean people. Having such ease of access to information about a plethora of destinations online opens a door to attract or discourage potential visitors. Presentation is key in the age of information; visitors can virtually visit a destination before they physically do with resources we provide online.”- Bevin Wilkinson, Executive Producer.
Wilkinson led a team of five students from the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication at the University of the West Indies Mona, Western Jamaica Campus in the self-funded production of Millennial Islanders. Millennial Islanders is a 30-minute TV show about Caribbean digital natives who travel to other Caribbean countries to meet and make friends with other millennials, and experience Caribbean cultures all while posting it online using various social media platforms. The first season was filmed in Antigua and Barbuda in July 2016.
Let’s sit down with the man with the vision Bevin Wilkinson to find out more about this groundbreaking show.
What’s the meaning behind the name Millennial Islanders?
“Millennials are people like me; born between 1980 and 2000. We’re young, and we’re tech savvy. We’re pretty much at the center of social media, accounting for the majority of users on almost any social media platform. The show is themed around technology, mobile devices and social media. It made sense to use to choose a name that would target exactly who we thought we would relate with the most. Islanders came from the fact that we all come from different Caribbean islands. So we just put it together.”
What inspired you to produce this show?
“I met Meriah John who co-hosts the show with Ajayi Dublin in 2014. We both had a desire to travel the Caribbean and produce original content like travel blogs. One day Meriah and I were hanging out at our friend Andri-Dee’s house, scrolling through Instagram and we came across D’boat; a retired oil tanker that was converted into a water attraction. It looked pretty cool. In that moment I just knew that we were going to do the show, and the first season would be in
Antigua. Three of the members on my team; Carissa Warner, Onica Grannum and D’Kaboo Brann are actually Antiguan, and Antigua’s beautiful so why not?”
What can your viewers look forward to from an episode?
“Every episode has a combination of themes that tell a story about the island. To really capture the island’s culture we explored activities and sites of historic and educational value while still having fun. For example we visited the national museum, and of course did something fun like D-Boat, and visited historical sites like Betty’s Hope. Everything throughout an episode was snapchatted, instagrammed or tweeted, we shared the experiences with our audience on social media like true millennials.
How did you choose who to partner with?
Partnering with relevant businesses in Antigua really made the show possible. In exchange for the opportunity to truly experience Antigua, we created digital media content specific for each business. We examined their social media presences and came up with ways to improve their online presence and attract millennials. We chose that approach because new and social media are very powerful marketing tools if used correctly. As millennials born into this era and educated in the digital media and communications fields we not only have an understanding of the power, but also the ability to put it to work to improve the Caribbean’s digital footprint.
In Antigua and Barbuda the beach is just the beginning, what other aspects of the country does Millennial Islanders feature?
We came to Antigua during carnival season so; we played T-shirt mas with Dumztree, j’ouvert with Project Sync and mas with Insane Mas Camp which was a lot of fun. We also featured other aspects of the culture like the Saturday morning market, and local cuisine. Antigua has so much to offer, and a lot of it comes out in the show.
If you can’t wait until the first season hits your television screen on ABS June 10th at 6:00 p.m. to find out more about these adventurous, entrepreneurial Millennial Islanders be sure to check out their social media sites, @millennialislanders on Instagram and YouTube for updates!
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