The BVI Tourist Board has informed media operatives in the Territory, during a Media Breakfast Morning today February 1, 2013 that it is working on a number of initiatives for which the maximum support of the local media would be needed to get the messages out at the earliest possible time. Photo: VINO

Marketing Manager of the BVITB Lynette Harrigan (right) at the breakfast for local media operatives. Left is BVI Beacon reporter Chrystall Kanyuck. Photo: VINO

One of the initiatives of the BVITB is to tap in to the wedding markets in the United States of America. The Virgin Islands is said to have less than one percent of the booming wedding markets that exist in the USA.

This was highlight by Director of the BVI Tourist Board, Mrs Sharon Flax-Mars at a Media Breakfast Morning held today February 1, 2013 at the Moorings.  Almost all the media houses were present and spent approximately two hours of social time interacting with a number of persons from the Tourism sector of the Virgin Islands.

One of the initiatives currently being worked on according to Mrs Flax - Mars is to encourage an influx of weddings from overseas, which was discovered to be a “big thing” for many persons in North America.

The BVI Tourist Board is also hoping to develop a strategy that would see Virgin Islanders spending at least part of their vacation time in various destinations across the Virgin Islands since there are many untapped locations in the Territory not explored and taken advantage of by locals.

It was noted also that there is a dire need for the improvement in the ferrying services and the tourism authority will be facilitating a workshop with ferry operators in the very near future. “So we are going to do some intensive training with ferry operators, their owners, their frontline personnel, we are also looking at having the information officers as well as the port officers attend that training. And we will have tourist board personnel go through that training as well,” Ms Flax-Mars.

Ms Flax-Mars stressed that the media and the tourism sector is a partnership, which should have a common goal to have the Virgin Islands “shine”.

“For me we need to have that partnership with you, we need to be open and I would encourage my team to be responsive. If they say to you that they will get back to you on any issues that they might not have the answer immediately, I would expect that they do so. I promise to do the same.”

Marketing Manager of BVI Tourist Board Lynette Harrigan expressed gratitude to media representatives for the impact they have had on tourism over the years. “We just want to say thank you media, we can’t do what we do if it wasn’t for your assistance.” According to Harrigan, the BVI Tourist Board had initially planned to have the moment with media operatives during the Tourism Month

in 2012 but was prevented from accomplishing this due to “hard pressed schedules” during that time.