'Use athletes as face of VI Tourism' - Hon Fraser to BVITB
Reflecting on the deliberations of the Standing Finance Committee held in November 2019, Hon Fraser told the House of Assembly (HoA) on December 13, 2019, "When the Tourist Board came before us, I had a question for the Tourist Board and my question was, are you satisfied you are utilising the vast potential of that is available to you through our athletes, by making them poster child [and] athletes for the Virgin Islands?"
Hon Fraser continued, "I am not convinced that they are, Mr Speaker. We have a Commonwealth Gold Medalist, we have the Pan Am Gold Medalist, but I don't see them being the face of the Virgin Islands."
Stellar performance for VI star athletes
In 2019, VI star athletes made great strides in their respective disciplines, the biggest being Long Jumper Chantel E. Malone striking gold at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru. It was the first ever Pan Am Games medal for the Territory.
In 2018 Hurdler Kyron A. McMaster struck the Virgin Islands first ever Commonwealth Games gold, when he won the 400m Hurdles final on April 12, 2018 in Australia. McMaster also won gold at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Colombia and at the North America, Central America and Caribbean (NACAC) Athletics Senior Championships in Toronto, Canada.
He also successfully defended his title at the Diamond League, a meet for elite professional athletes held at various venues across Europe.
In 2019, McMaster was third in the Diamond League final. He also qualified for the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, and placed 4th in the final on September 30, 2019.
McMaster, who has a Personal Best of 47.54 in the 400m Hurdles, is currently third in the IAAF World Rankings.
For the third consecutive year, both Malone and McMaster were named the BVI Athletics Association (BVIAA) Senior Athletes of the Year.
On the sailing front, Thad A. Lettsome emerged as champion in NESSA Single Handed Championship held October 5-6, 2019 after another great year of sailing and more recently, Virgin Islander professional basketball player Leslee J. Smith signed with Plymouth Raiders as part of the British Basketball League.
Endorsements
"I believe that the Tourist Board should take the charge in making that happen," Hon Fraser further told the House.
He said endorsements via the athletes can bring much-needed funding to the sector, "I implore the Tourist Board to make a push in this direction... these people who are desperately in need of financial support, they can get it."
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18 Responses to “'Use athletes as face of VI Tourism' - Hon Fraser to BVITB”
If you burden them with these responsibilities you will see their performances will suffer.
Your star athletes can be used for Public Relations for the territory. That has absolutely nothing to do with Tourism. It is more to do with National Pride. That is something for the Ministry of Sports and Culture NOT Tourism.
Now if we upgrade our sporting facilities, then we can have tournaments and track meets here. This would drive Tourism in that people would come to the Territory (as sports- related) Tourists. Now the Tourism Board can get involved.
Now you can use the popularity of Chantel and Kyron to attract big name athletes to participate in the events, which will draw more tourists.
But without world class sporting facilities and world class sporting events, there is very little that Chantel and Kyron can do to drive Tourism.
donkey h**e they cause people to draw attention by putting us on the map
Jamaica been on the map. Usain Bolt is one of the winningest athletes ever. Reps Jamaica hard. Not one single additional Tourist decide to go Jamaica because Bolt from there. They go for other reasons. Without track meets to bring people in the country then it really isn't going to affect tourism
Moreover, local athletes success at the Summer Olympics, Pan Am, World Championship.....etc games helps immensely in putting the VI, a small brown dot in the Caribbean Sea, on the map, making millions, if not billions, aware of the VI. Local athletes success on the big stages create priceless curiosity among millions with the discretionary income to vacation in the region. The VI needs to coalesce with other regional countries, ie, USVI.....etc to deepen and extend the visitor experience; it can be a win-win for all locations. The visitor must leave with a “WOW” factor that they can take back and share with family, friends, co-workers, social club members, church members.......etc. The VI must become a must see destination.