Crafts Alive Village for November 20 Opening – Hon. Vanterpool
“I think the latest date now… we are shooting very hard for November 20,” the Minister said, adding “we can before that, in the next two weeks or three weeks… we will bring it forward… about a week we’re pushing for.” He declared that November 20 was the “outside date” that was being pushed for in terms of the final date for opening, however, and things were being moved as quickly as possible to make this happen.
Hon. Vanterpool told the prospective vendors assembled at the Noel Lloyd Positive Action Movement Park that the Village wasn't just about them as vendors but was also about establishing a good tourism product and creating a place where residents can go to enjoy and partake in what is happening at the Village.
The Minister also revealed an initiative that is in the works for a more aggressive marketing approach to have more cruise tourists visit the Territory.
“We are very aggressively trying to get more cruise tourism here… we are trying to get extra ships to fit… we offered to pay for the cost of the tender, if they were to bring their ships… that’s the kind of thing we are out there promoting to get the ships to come although our cruise pier is not quite ready for the biggest ships,” he added.
The gathering, which saw about 50-odd prospective vendors in attendance, was also told that the Ministry would play an active role in the promotion of the Village and there were plans afoot to ultimately incorporate the village as part of the leg of a proposed “Road Town Tour”.
“We’re not just going to put it there, put you in the buildings and leave it there,” Hon. Vanterpool said, “we’re going to be advertising, promoting, putting out ways of ensuring people can know that you are there, that there are activities there and that this is the way to get there.”
He disclosed that the BVI Tourist Board will be part of the promotion efforts and will ensure that there are brochures for persons coming off the ships. “We’re going to have what we call a sort of ‘Road Town Tour’ that will begin and include touring along here… Noel Lloyd Park… the Crafts Alive Village… Main Street, starting at the museum down at the Governor’s [residence] coming up Main Street [and] going all the way past the bandstand and burial ground…”
The Minister made it clear that the Village was not just about competition but also about vendors being able to support each other. “It’s very important to understand that… we’re not just going in there just for a competition, but we’re going in to help each other because once it becomes a talk… eventually, Crafts Alive Village will become a place to visit whenever you’re travelling from anywhere,” he said. “We want Crafts Alive Village to be one of those must visit, must see spots in the Territory.”
Hon. Vanterpool also disclosed that the final cost of the works being conducted on the Crafts Alive Village is expected to be in the region of US$1.2M.
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16 Responses to “Crafts Alive Village for November 20 Opening – Hon. Vanterpool ”
All we get is dirt shift from one side of the island to the next, cronies get thousands of dollars for trucking dirt all over the island for NOTHING!!!