ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – As Antigua and Barbuda gears up for the reintroduction of non-stop service from New York’s JFK International Airport in mid June, The Ministry of Tourism in the United States has intensified its promotions in the New York tri-state area.
Delta Airlines will commence non-stop service from New York’s JFK International Airport on June 12, 2008… The new service on Thursdays and Sundays will coincide with the launch of Romantic Rhythms, the destination’s first International Music Festival.
To increase awareness service among key travel partners, the US Tourism Team hosted a Wine Tasting Tour throughout the vineyards of Long Island for 30 top travel agents who sell Antigua and Barbuda. The travel agents were transported via a limousine coach to four different vineyards in the upscale suburbs of the Hamptons that ended with a romantic picnic buffet catered by Chef Murphy.
While on board, the travel agents were entertained by one of Antigua’s musical Ambassadors Rupert ‘Baba’ Blaize who invited all of the agents to come to Antigua and Barbuda for Romantic Rhythms and to bring some of their clients with them. One of Antigua’s burgeoning authors, Monica Matthew, produced a theatrical presentation of the destination under the theme “A Toast from Our Islands to Your Island: Antigua and Barbuda Meets Long Island”. As Matthew took agents on a “virtual tour of Antigua and Barbuda she ended her performance by telling the agents that “Friendship is the wine of life, let’s drink of it and to it.”
According to US Director of Tourism, Derede Samuel-Whitlock, ‘The event was a rousing success and was an effective way of demonstrating that in the Caribbean we also share the simplicity of island life that is treasured in Long Island. Wine Tasting is a big part of the upscale culture in the Hamptons and this promotion allowed us to integrate a slice of Antiguan and Barbudan entertainment into one of their favorite pastimes.”
This is the second in a series of Wine Tasting Events that the Tourism team will host as they develop an Education and Incentive Program for travel agents throughout the United States.
