BDOT Promotion: Gombeys Perform in Baltimore
The people of Baltimore were treated to a performance by the Gombeys, as the Bermuda Department of Tourism [BDOT] has completed the first half of a four-city sales blitz. First stops were Boston and Baltimore, and the next stops will be Atlanta and New York, respectively.
The BDOT team spread the word about the upcoming launch of AirTran’s new nonstop service from Baltimore/Washington International Airport to Bermuda. The inaugural flight is set to take place on April 7. The Gombeys are pictured below performing in Baltimore’s Gallery Mall at Harborplace:
The marketing effort was held at two high-traffic consumer venues in the heart of Baltimore: Penn Station and The Gallery Mall at Harborplace, offering informative materials along with another three-night trip giveaway.
The BDOT team then partnered with Baltimore’s top-rated CBS radio affiliates to promote Bermuda and a live performance by our Gombeys led to coverage on WBAL-TV’s [NBC] evening news.
Roughly 100 Baltimore travel agents and media were able to catch a glimpse of the Bermuda experience during a dinner at the city’s celebrated National Aquarium. BDOT arranged a special Gombey performance as well as entertainment by renowned local musician Gene Steede and his talented band.
The Gombeys are pictured below performing outside of Baltimore’s National Aquarium:
The evening and campaign in Baltimore concluded with additional prize trips given to three lucky dinner attendees by Tucker’s Point Hotel & Spa, Grotto Bay and Elbow Beach.
In Boston, a marketing campaign greeted thousands of commuters at South Station – one of the city’s main transportation hubs. Complete with steel pan music, Bermuda banners and pink-shirt clad tourism representatives, winter-weary commuters were enticed to travel to the Island and offered an opportunity to win a trip for two to the Bermuda. Potential visitors are pictired below at Boston’s South Station signing up to try and win a Bermuda vacation.
Sales calls and a dinner at Boston’s award-winning Top of The Hub restaurant atop the famed Prudential Tower reached area travel agents and influencers.
Today the Minister of Business Development & Tourism Patrice Minors said, “Boston and Baltimore are both important markets for Bermuda, particularly with JetBlue and Delta offering direct service from Boston and AirTran launching new flights this April for those flying out of BWI.”
“Our team has worked very hard to ensure that Bermuda was top of mind for potential visitors with their high energy campaign, and our presence in these cities served as a reminder of Bermuda’s proximity and convenience while building the buzz for the destination.”
This week [March 22-24] Atlanta will experience the Bermuda blitz followed by a series of major sales and PR events in New York City on March 30-31.
Can we use the word “dance” instead of “perform”? In many cases today, the gombeys do dance for crowds such as this baltimore one. But using words like “perform” ignores their culturally significant and very relvant history. A history in which it was a dance, not a “performance”. Tourism is a complicated thing, as far as its effects, but since I still see gombeys out on boxing day, new years, 24the of may, they are a living, dancing relic. NOT performers!
Gombey are dancers who perform! What are you talking about
@hmmm…stop making a performance out of it!!!
Great to see the Gombeys dancing in Baltimore. I lived in that area for 6 years and worked at the National Aquarium. Well done Dept of Tourism for hitting the DC, Baltimore, Annapolis Market!
The gombeys have been tried all over the world to promote bermuda…enough of these so called dancers…………Hello… it does not work anymore !!!!!!!!!!
Actually it does work! Those who go through it and are there can tell you that it does work! U all make it seem like dancing gombeys are easy! Let me see you entertain ppl for 30min in a suit.. U think it’s that easy to just pick up a drum and just play? U ppl need to wake up and talk about things that really matter…
Would love to come out and show my Bermudian support for the Atlanta event but alas…they gave no location for the 22-24 event this week.
We asked BDOT for the Atlanta info, and will hopefully post that up. Then we will bother you to sneak us a few pics lol…
Will do the photo shoot for Bernews if possible.
BTW..A few weeks ago I heard about a possible Bermuda Tourism event planned for Atlanta and I made contact with the Bda Dept Tourism and was told that the event was closed to the public and for Travel Agents only.
I wonder if this is the same event.
Got it, its today…
“Come by the Mall at Peachtree Center on Wednesday, March 23rd from 8AM to 6PM, where representatives from Bermuda will be bringing a taste of the island to Atlantans and highlighting how easy it is to get to Bermuda with AirTran’s new nonstop daily flights from Atlanta Hartsfield (ATL) launching on May 26, 2011 – it’s under three hours away! We’ll have live island music and dance performances, tons of prizes and one lucky person that stops by will win a 3-night, 4-day trip to Bermuda including airfare on AirTran Airways and deluxe hotel accommodations at Tucker’s Point Hotel and Spa.”
Bunch of Gombeys
I agree with the above difference between ‘dance’ & ‘performance’. In a performance entertainers will keep you interested for at least half an hour with whatever it is that they do.
In all seriousness, once you have seen gombeys for 30 seconds, you have…well…seen the gombeys. They are not going to do anything different than they did in the first 30 seconds of dancing. Nothing is choreographed. Each is doing his own thing. After 30 seconds it is plain old boring. In this sound bite, video clip world of people with very short attention spans gombeys & repetitive drums are nothing to all except a few Bermudians. It is the same for N American indian cultural events. Very little interest past a couple minutes except for those who have a cultural connection.
Been there. Seen it. Watched the average person walk away.
Visitors have very little interest in cultural tourism anyway. They want a clean updated room, good service, good food, things to do & all at a price that they don’t feel ripped off.
Huh
Little do you know that gombeys has bought so many tourist to Bermuda! Might be repitition to you when you see gombeys but for the first time seeing them you are amazed by a number of things! Appreciate what you have and give credit where credit is do
Sorry folks, but if I was in Baltimore or Atlanta and saw the dancing balls of yarn, I would freak out and NOT want to go to Bermuda. I understand they are our heritage, but honestly, not many people get it. Bring some pink sand or videos of our beautiful water and beaches…not these odd dancers/performers/yarn wearers… NYC doesn’t promote tourism there by having Native Americans dancing around scalping people or trying to get it to rain. Just a thought…
Hello have you ever been on a trip with the gombeys? No! Cause if you did you would know that they do advertise our pink sand,hotels and our beaches! S speak for yourself
As i was looking through BDANEWS, i stumbled upon this article. The first thing that came to my mind was; what a waste of money this ” promotion ” was, if we can call it that. The only difference between the cultural aspect of the ” native american indian ” and ” DE GOMBEY”, is the fact that, our so called gombey, is not ours. We adapted it for some reason; still unknown to me! Obviously the gombey has African roots, yet we so called Bermudians strive to make it ours.
lastly, will the department of tourism please stand up? Who do we have working in the department of tourism? Anyone with a brain? i mean, c’mon , cant think of anythnig better that piss poor idea.
PROBLEM NUMBER 1 = LACK OF EDUCATION.
Dept of tourist and dept of edu r two different dept! How can u be so negative when the island is trying to do something right.. Like u said it’s unknown to you so you shouldn’t speak out on things your not sure of