MIAMI – Laparkan Shipping has teamed up with a number of shopping malls and hotels in south Florida to offer significant discounts on accommodation, shopping and freight costs to Caribbean residents, visiting south Florida during the summer.
The Shop, Ship & Save Program was officially launched on June 25th just ahead of the West Indies and New Zealand T20 International matches played in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida which drew a significant number of visiting spectators from the Caribbean region.
James Devers, Laparkan’s Senior Vice President for the Caribbean region says the program offers discounts ranging from five (5) to fifty (50) per cent on a range of items at retail stores in Westfield, Westland and Dolphin Malls and attractive rates at several conveniently located hotels including Howard Johnson, Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn and Suites and Hampton Inn. Laparkan is also offering prepaid freight discounts to those travelers to south Florida from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda.
This special program is available to all persons travelling from the Caribbean to south Florida who either purchase prepaid discount freight coupons or prepay for their intended shipments at Laparkan offices in the Caribbean. Travelers from the OECS countries should contact the Laparkan office in either Antigua or Barbados to participate in the program.
Devers explained that the discount shopping and hotel accommodation components of the program will run until the end of 2012 while the freight discounts will expire August 31, 2012.
Other benefits of the program include free shuttle between the airports and hotels and between the hotels and the malls, free breakfast at select hotels and a giveaway gift bag, while supplies last for shoppers at Westland Mall.
A number of other malls, hotels, a rental car service and restaurants are expected to join the program shortly.
Andrew Martineau, Director of Marketing at Westfield Mall in Broward County, Florida says his mall is pleased to be part of the Shop, Ship & Save Program since it offers visitors to Florida significant discounts that are not available to the people who live here. “We know a lot of people from overseas come to shop during the summer vacation and our mall offers a range of the popular retail stores with quality items at great prices. This is our way of offering those people who have to pay airfares a break on prices so that they can purchase all the items they need,” he explained.
Ana Metola, Director of Marketing at Westland Mall in Hialeah, Florida expressed similar sentiments pointing to the benefits of the program especially for those shopping for their children who return to school in late August and early September in the Caribbean. She says the Mall will also make available, while supplies, a gift bag with sample products as well as discounts for area restaurants. She thanked Laparkan for initiating the program.
All the participating hotels are also excited about the program which is intended to provide some measure of assistance to visiting shoppers from the Caribbean while at the same time generating increased business for the participating businesses.
