Influencers and creatives who were invited to enjoy Cup Match festivities achieved a global reach of almost 1.5 million, the Bermuda Tourism Authority reported.

The group was said to have attracted more than 8,400 engagements on social media as they highlighted the island’s beauty and culture.

But the partly taxpayer-funded BTA did not reveal how much was spent on the partnership, which was designed to share Bermudian experiences around the world.

A spokesman for the authority said: “Photographer Lenny S, creative director Dapper Lou, Grammy award-winning director Melina Matsoukas, celebrity stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, influencer Chinyere Adogu and blogger Nyja Richardson were engulfed in Bermudian culture.

“Though a celebratory time, BTA’s influencer guests learnt the steep history and festivities surrounding the two-day holiday and were tasked with delivering content that displayed Bermuda in its most authentic light.

“Throughout their time each visitor shared their experience through documented social media postings, one of which being reposted by DJ Khaled for his 30.4 million followers to see, further extending Bermuda’s reach.”

He added that “over the course of their brief stay” the group accomplished:

• a global reach of 1.48 million

• 210 posts across all social channels

• 1.23 million video or reel views

• 282 shares

• 8,453 engagements, such as likes, shares and comments

The Budget book showed that the BTA was to receive a grant from the Government of more than $20 million in 2022-23.

The Royal Gazette asked the authority how much it cost to deliver the Cup Match influencer programme.

A spokesman said: “The BTA does not pay influencer fees. However, we do subsidise travel expenses at various levels based on a careful ROI [return on investment] analysis and vetting process.

“We will also sometimes purchase content rights from images or video that can be used to support our marketing efforts.

“Beyond basic engagement reporting, we also analyse metrics that take a deeper dive into the true marketing success of the campaign, including demographic audience data, impressions, reach, total engagements and views.”

The spokesman added: “BTA will continue to work with the influencers to ensure deliverables from the partnerships are met.

“Most recently Dapper Lou released a recap video highlighting his time spent.

“Dapper worked alongside Burnt House Productions and BTA team members to capture the content and used Bermudian producer Noise Cans for the video’s music, adding even more local feeling to the video.

“The video amassed over 40,000 views and was shared more than 2,000 times in under 24 hours, praised by many members of the Bermudian community throughout the 204 positive comments.”

Cup Match celebrations and footage from the annual classic were collected in a packed montage that also included shots of the island’s shores, the Bacchanal Run, Gombeys, the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo and other slices of life on the island.

In a caption that accompanied his post of the video on Instagram, Dapper Lou wrote: “It was a honour to partner with Bermuda to document two of their most historic events.

“We experienced a rich culture, beautiful people and warm hospitality.”

Tracy Berkeley, the BTA’s interim chief executive officer, said: “Our goal is to always show our island in the most authentic way.

“Strategically adjusting our approach to move from just hosting traditional ‘influencers’ to now working with content creators so that we have owned content, proved to be successful.

“We look forward to hosting even more talented persons so we can continue to grow our distribution and global reach.”

The BTA spokesman added that the organisation plans to use its new relationships “to create valuable business development, film and photoshoot opportunities that will benefit Bermuda and our creative community”.

He added: “During their time on the island, the influencers worked alongside local content creators who assisted in capturing their genuine Bermuda and Cup Match experiences.”

The spokesman said that as well as Burnt House Productions, Bermudian content creators used to help capture the Cup Match holiday included Media Maya, Kristin White and Peter “Moss” Sousa.

The BTA said earlier that its board member Shiona Turini, a celebrated Bermudian stylist, helped to gather the group of influencers, keeping in mind the goal of encouraging more Black travellers to visit the island.

A spokeswoman said then: “By bringing authentic and influential Black voices to the island during this important event, potential Black visitors will see Bermuda’s culture at its very best.”

The BTA earlier listed Derrick Jones, whose career includes work as a DJ, producer, rapper and photographer, among its Cup Match influencer guests.

He was not mentioned in the latest information provided by the authority.