Miss BVI Dian Sanderson with other Caribbean ambassadors

Attendance at Berlin mega-show produces results

Officials from the BVI Tourist Board (BVITB) held a series of meetings with airline officials in Berlin recently, which will result in enhanced traffic into the British Virgin Islands.

The local delegation to ITB Berlin, which was held March 12th-16th, 2004, included Permanent Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office Mr. Clyde Lettsome, BVITB Chairman Mr. Russell Harrigan and Director Mr. Kedrick Malone, Ms. BVI 2003 Ms. Dian Sanderson, along with representatives of Long Bay Beach Resort and Rosewood Hotels (Little Dix Bay Resort).
“Germany is a key market for our growth in Europe, hence our presence at ITB was to ensure that air access is as optimal as it should be,” stated Mr. Malone. “Many of the islands get direct flights and because the BVI is an offline destination, the airline component is always critical.”
He announced that the boutique offline destinations, such as the BVI, Anguilla, Nevis and St. Barths, the ones which essentially drive the sales, have now established an informal alliance to guarantee their share of the market.

According to the BVITB Director, this year, the BVI was able to partner with WINAIR, which has signed a code sharing agreement with KLM and he said hopefully by early summer, WINAIR’s fares will be seen by tour operators booking KLM from Germany to the BVI. WINAIR is already in a code sharing arrangement with Air France and passengers can shortly get direct bookings from any Air France destination through to the BVI. “Without WINAIR bringing passengers from St. Maarten to the BVI, all of our marketing efforts will be in vain, he declared.”

In Berlin, the BVI delegation also met with tour operators including Dertour, who will be coming here in April to include the BVI in its tour operator’s brochure; Thomas Cook, which also has a programme to expand the BVI’s listing in their brochure; Strohbeck; Seetours, which brings the cruise ship AIDA to the BVI; Travel Trend and Eest Tourism Group.

Tour operator Monica Wyss, Director of Travel Gallery in Germany, won an all expenses paid trip to the British Virgin Islands sponsored by Little Dix Bay and Long Bay hotels, in recognition of her being named the highest producing travel agent for the BVI in Germany.

“We also had a good meeting with the organizer of an incentive travel group for IBM Germany, who will be sending some of their employees on a reward trip to the BVI in early May; this is a market we’re looking to expand,” said Mr. Malone.

Meantime, Miss BVI Dian Sanderson represented the territory well at ITB Berlin. She attended some of the meetings with the local delegation and was a good ambassador for the BVI as a number of publications interviewed her, including FVW, one of the largest trade magazines in Germany, where her photograph was featured along with an article.

The annual BVI reception, a gathering of friends of the BVI, including media and travel agents, writers and tour operators, was also very well attended, according to Mr. Malone. The Chairman of the Tourist Board and Miss BVI addressed the audience at this event.
While in Berlin, the BVI Tourist Board officials used the opportunity to meet with staff from their offices in Germany, Italy and the U.K.