Unlike my first trade show experience in Berlin, the space occupied by St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the convention hall in London was not a total embarrassment. I had gathered and packed local arts and crafts with which to decorate our booth, and although we couldn’t hope to compete with Martinique and St. Lucia when it came to our display, at least it wasn’t a complete disgrace! The hand-carved sailboat from the Sargeant Brother’s model boat shop was placed in the glass display case along with the souvenirs from Noah’s Arcade, and I was pleased by the difference they made to the booth’s appearance. The trade show would open the following day, and we had done as much as we could in our allotted space to make it attractive.
The first day of the show was open to Travel Agents and the press only, and this would be the most important day for the hoteliers who had made the journey to England to promote their properties. The hotel owners arrived with their pamphlets and a bit of attitude, tourism is a competitive business and there was little camaraderie amongst them as they waited to be approached by travel agents. I was present as Chairman of the Bequia Tourist Committee and was therefore a Government representative; I was not there to promote Mac’s Pizzeria or Bequia Villa Rentals, but it was certainly in my best interests to promote Bequia as a tourist destination, and I gave it my best shot whenever the opportunity arose!
As I visited some of the other Caribbean booths I recognized many faces, and stopped to chat with people I had met at the trade show in Berlin. I teased St. Lucia and Grenada for featuring our Tobago Cays in their displays; they were quick to point out that St. Vincent wasn’t promoting the Cays well enough, and that they were simply taking up the slack. They had a good point, we had no material at our booth advertising the famous Cays, and they were one of our country’s finest assets. I made a mental note to take the matter up with the Director of Tourism; St. Lucia, Grenada and Martinique were actively promoting excursions to our country’s Tobago Cays, and they were doing it well. Their displays were eye-catching and imaginative, and in order to compete we needed to step up our game.
Trinidad and Tobago’s booth was incredible, they had spared no expense with their glittering display and it was paying off. I watched as travel agents hurried past our booth to get to Trinidad’s and my heart sank; I had initially been pleased with our display, but it now seemed paltry compared to those around us. The travel agents that DID pause at our booth were quickly snatched up and hustled off to more private areas by the hoteliers, leaving Jasmine (the lady in charge of London’s Tourism Office) and me to deal with anyone wanting general information about St. Vincent.
Once the event had closed for the day it was announced over the loudspeaker that Jamaica was hosting a party, and a loud cheer went up in the Caribbean section. Jasmine informed me that Jamaica had imported several cases of Red Stripe, and the floor teemed with boisterous people making a beeline for the cold beer and Reggae music. What fun! The boring travel agents had left the convention hall, leaving the Caribbean people to drink Red Stripe beer and dance, winding happily to the music as the day came to an end. The party in Jamaica that evening was definitely the highlight of the event, importing the beer was a stroke of genius appreciated by everyone.
As I write this story times have changed, the world is in the grip of a worldwide pandemic and struggling for a semblance of normalcy. For the first time since 1980 the World Travel Market will not have live events, travel restrictions and uncertainty around the world have made it pretty much impossible. Instead, they plan on having four virtual theatres to host webinars and debates, and Responsible Tourism will be the most important topic. How sad; no plane rides, no booths to decorate, no friendships to forge and no Red Stripe beer and dancing in Jamaica, just computer screens to stare at as the tourism and travel industries struggle desperately with the reality of Covid-19. Times have changed indeed.
