Director of BVITB, Hadassah Ward (right) and Niche Marketing Manager Lynette Harrigan unveiled the Wendy Williams promotion to journalists. Photo: Aneka Edwards/VINO

“A lot of people are doing this, you need companies for different things, you need Public Relations companies to do certain kinds of PR, you may need Events companies when you need certain types of events, but you don’t need one person that is paid one big lump sum of money all the time – that day is over with,” he confidently said, moments after the “Brand BVI” press conference was over at the Moorings conference room.

According to Mr. Blyden, the TB has tapped into the creative minds in the Virgin Islands, which have both been fruitful and cost effective.

“We are doing lots of our creative stuff here. We have a lot of people who have come back from colleges now. The graphics presented at the press conference were done by local companies. If we had an agency they would have sent us a bill for these posters but they were all done by the creative department in the TB, so major savings,” Mr. Blyden revealed.

Chairman of BVITB, Neil Blyden.

He also credited the TB’s growing reputation and hard-working staff for making it possible for “Brand BVI” to continue to grow.

“We have the connections…without your name and reputation people will not want to talk to you,” he pointed out.

Wendy Williams and TEMPO on board

Mr. Blyden proudly revealed that Wendy Williams, the new darling of daytime talk show, will be filming in the VI and the end product will be a four minute promo on her show, which according to Mr. Blyden, is a major win for the Territory.

“Her show is seen by between 50 to 100 million viewers and we will get airtime, that we are not paying for…a 30 seconds advertisement cost around $50,000,” the TB’s chairman told journalists.
Furthermore, Ms. Williams, for the November sweeps, will host a “Watch and Win BVI” promotion where the winners will enjoy all that the VI has to offer.

“This promotion with the BVI will add about 25 percent more potential visitors who are interested in coming here…this is going to put Brand BVI in place where you could not imagine,” said Mr. Blyden.

And with TEMPO now part of the Cablevision – a leading digital television provider in the USA – the BVITB and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TEMPO, Frederick Norton have teamed up to shoot a reality show in the Virgin Islands early next year.

TEMPO’s promo for the reality show.

Dubbed “My TEMPO trip – a reality series”, it will be the first for both entities. A crew will film winners from Circle of Sisters on a whirlwind tour to Nature’s Little Secret.

Mr. Morton, who spoke via phone to journalists at the press conference, said he is ecstatic with the collaborative effort and viewers will catch 10 episodes of the reality show.

“It’s an extraordinary collaboration…the BVI stands as a beacon of light in its efforts to attract tourism,” he said.
Mr. Morton also commended Mr. Blyden and Premier Ralph T O’Neal, who is also the Minister for Tourism, for their unique approach in showcasing the VI, and added that other Caribbean destinations will be looking.
To this end, Mr. Blyden pointed out that for the next six months the VI’s tourism product will be out in full forces.
“Time to make a bang!” he declared.