Wednesday, January 27 – Premier and Minister for Tourism Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE today launched a Territorial Tourism Research Competition which is intended to ensure greater understanding of the importance of the tourism industry among residents of the Territory.
At a press conference this morning to launch the initiative, a brainchild of the BVI Tourist Board, Premier O’Neal said there are three objectives. “One, foster research and dialogue on the significance of the tourism dollar to the BVI economy. Two, it is going to explore strategies for coping with the current global economic downturn as it relates to the effects on tourism and three, to bring balance and a diversity of viewpoints to the tourism sector,” the Premier outlined.
Encouraging widespread participation in the competition, Honourable O’Neal noted that we are all stakeholders in the tourism industry. “Although we as the Government are the policy makers, it is important that we involve the wider community in the planning and management of the industry. I encourage widespread participation in this competition. It is an opportunity for you to have a voice in the development of these Virgin Islands,” he stated.
Three topics have been identified for participants to research. One deals with the sustainability of the industry in light of the current economic downturn; the second addresses mass versus elite tourism in the BVI, how its affect our environment and economy while the third will attempt to determine how tourism affects the BVI’s cultural dynamics and how the Territory can assert its distinct heritage.
Premier O’Neal described these as “all very pertinent questions as we seek to chart the way forward for the tourism industry.” He also anticipates that the competition will allow the Government “ to gain better insight as to how the community views tourism in the Territory,” which he acknowledge will in turn assist “in making decisions on how we should manage this important industry going forward.”
In her remarks, Acting Director of the BVI Tourist Board Ms. Hadassah Ward expressed the hope that the competition will attract intelligent debate and discussion on the industry. “We seldom in our Territory have intellectual discussion and debate on tourism and although the Tourist Board is very often involved in a lot of exciting opportunities, we also see the need to have intelligent discussion and intelligent debate.” She further stated, “What we see this competition as is one of the best ways to entice the most creative answers from hopefully some of our brightest, most educated and most eloquent minds in the Territory.”
The competition is open to all residents of the Virgin Islands who are 18 years and older. Ms. Ward outlined some of the guidelines of the competition to the media present at the press conference.
Interested persons need to complete a registration form which is available from the BVI Tourist Board between now and February 19. The actual submission of research papers must be done electronically by May 1, 2010. The judging criteria include areas such as organization and clarity of content, significance and quality of the submission and writing skills.
The top four finalists will be notified by July 15, with presentations of their work scheduled for September this year. The overall winner of the competition will be given an expense-paid trip to the International Tourism Exhibition (ITB) in Berlin, Germany in 2011. The winner will accompany representatives from the BVI Tourist Board to that event to gain firsthand experience of how the Territory’s tourism product is marketed globally.
Tourism is one of the main economic pillars of the Virgin Islands and Government‘s goal is to partner with residents on charting the way forward.
British Virgin Islands News