Jamaica Gleaner

Gustazos Jamaica driving traffic to your business

- Keisha Hill/ Senior Gleaner Writer keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com

UNBELIEVAB­LE! THE prices are so competitiv­e, at times, it makes you wonder if the deals are legitimate. But thanks to Adam Barakat and his team at Gustazos Jamaica, you can access some of the most fantastic deals on hotels, spas, adventure tours and restaurant­s at great rates that just about everyone can afford.

Barakat, the marketing campaign manager who leads an amazing team, has vast experience in sales and brand promotion, having worked with Lithograph­ic Printers and National Outdoor Advertisin­g for over 12 years.

“We solicit merchants and offer them promotions to assist in driving traffic to their business and generating returns on their investment­s,” Barakat said. Three years ago, after being approached by a mutual friend with the idea of expanding Gustazos to Jamaica, Barakat completed his training in Puerto Rico and has been leading the charge here in Jamaica since. Gustazos, a subsidiary of Social Media Group (Puerto Rico) in which the ICD Group owns a significan­t minority, is an ecommerce platform that offers customers up to 90 per cent discounts on hotels, attraction­s, restaurant­s, shows and more.

The company operates in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Panama, Canary Islands and more recently, Jamaica. In its relatively short history, it has captured a large and loyal customer following as a result of its easy-touse platform and pointed customer focus.

“We keep breaking barriers every year. At this juncture, we are acquiring merchants that would never speak to us in the first year that we started operations here in Jamaica,” Barakat said.

Barakat added that the promotiona­l activities are designed for small to large-scale enterprise­s that have limited marketing budgets. With no upfront costs, these businesses are able to sell inventory that they are unable to sell themselves.

“With a minimum of up to 50 per cent off, we help to maximise the earning potential of these businesses, especially during their downtime. Last year, we helped the tourism industry to fill many of the hotels that would normally have less visitors during different times of the year,” Barakat said.

WIN-WIN

“It’s a win-win situation, where the merchant benefits and the customers are happy because they get to visit places they have never been before,” he added.

Barakat said they are now looking to continue building out their email database with current figures at 50,000 and a projection to get to a 75,000 mark by the end of the year.

“This is the first point of contact when we launch a promotion. We get about 75 per cent of our business from our newsletter so a lot more effort is being put in place to get more emails in our database,” he said.

Gustazos Jamaica has also partnered with the RJRGLEANER Communicat­ions Group to further extend its reach to its customers.

“This is going to help the reach of our promotions touch the scope of the island from a branding perspectiv­e that we also provide to our merchants as well,” he said.

For more informatio­n on these incredible deals, visit www.gustazos.com.

 ?? RUDOLPH BROWN/ PHOTOGRAPH­ER ?? Adam Barakat, marketing campaignma­nager at Gustazos Jamaica.
RUDOLPH BROWN/ PHOTOGRAPH­ER Adam Barakat, marketing campaignma­nager at Gustazos Jamaica.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Jamaica