Video: Gombeys in Atlanta’s Peachtree Center
This afternoon [Mar.23], Atlanta residents were treated to a little slice of Bermuda when the Gombeys danced through the Mall at Peachtree Center as part of a Bermuda Department of Tourism promotion.
The day also included live steel pan music, tons of prizes and as well as a giveway in which one lucky person 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.
Arthur Raynor, a Bermudian living in Atlanta, captured the Gombeys in action:
The Atlanta stop was the third in a four-city sales blitz by the Department of Tourism. First stops were Boston and Baltimore, and the next stop will be New York.
Are you all seriously wasting tax payer money on scaring the “you know what” out of people trying to eat a meal at the mall? Did you see any of these people smiling or clapping? No, some of them looked scared and annoyed. The Gombeys are not good for tourism! They scare people! They make Bermuda look like a place where they can go to get scalped or terrorized by these people wrapped in yarn. Throw a beach party at a mall and show video of your beautiful beaches, pink sand, colorful water. That video has left me on edge!! Who the heck wants to be accosted by loud, obnoxious drums, whistles blown in their faces and strange creatures with axes in their hands? This little experiment FAILED! The last place I want to go is Bermuda!! Keep your Gombeys at home please!
oh be quiet …… skat skat skat pat pap pap skat skat pap pap
Yea calm down, its a cultural thing! Aayo! Aayo! Aayo! Aayo! Aayo! Pull up!! LOL
BERMP!! You’re wrong. How can you know the mood of people if you were not even there. Well guess what you suck rock, I was there and everybody enjoyed the show and a crowd gathered when they went upstairs and people were taking pictures, and getting information on the island. So the only thing that FAILED was YOU!!
Gotta love the looks of the guys at the 40-55 second mark……..
Just another day in Atlanta….not phased at all………..
There’s a time and a place for Gombeys. Back in the 50′s-60′s they tromped from Paget to East and West and people enjoyed them.
Now (without the overseas ventures), they sit idley in A house on A Hill and do have Sessions on Front Street in another building and drive “Gombey Patrol”…aka “GP” Weehikles…….
Irony….time never changes….
A large video screen showing the pink beaches, blue water and sunshine with the sound of waves washing the shore would be far more effective and probably a lot cheaper. Just think, people sitting there scoffing down there burgers dreading the still cold weather they have to travel home in, starring at the sunny pictures of Bermuda wishing they could be there….Far more effective…..So how much did this little exercise cost…airfare, hotel, food travel etc…and don’t forget the million they paid to the idiot that came up with this idea.
Cold weather!!! Are you JOKING. Did you not look at the video? There is nobody wearing a jacket on the video. I was there, everyone has on short sleeve polos, golf shirts or t-shirts. It is warmer here in Atlanta 79F than in Bermuda 65F
believe it is in the low 40s still at night and it is the effect of looking at the beauty of the island while you sit there and eat instead of watching others,,guys jumping up and down making lots of noise…not so much
ps since you are from Atlanta…you tell us …by reading other comments it seems like this is not the people Bermuda says it is targeting….upper middle class and rich who can afford to stay in our hotels??
Sorry I cannot speak as to the demographics of the people that frequent that Mall vs the people targeted by the Department of Tourism because:-
1) Yesterday was the first time I had ever visited that mall.
2) I am not from Atlanta but Bermuda, having recently moved to Atlanta.
It is business as usual with the DOT. Wasting taxpayer money away on pointless junkets.
A big screen etc as suggested above would have been far more effective.
Who authorizes this stuff anyhow?
Peachtree Center Mall!!!!!!!!! LOL Are you kidding me? is that low life budget place still open……. Guess they weren’t allowed anywhere else…. Thats about the size of Washington Mall bus stop!!!!!!!!
Sadly (an ironically), Peachtree Center Mall is a thug hang-out at best. People who shop there are not even up to “cruise ship” standards and budgets. Waste of money, HUGE waste of money. Why not perform in front of a US prison – we’d attract lots of the same types – only they wouldn’t be able to grace our shores for 5 – 10 years most of them.
Who gives the OK for this? Someone’s half-blind, slightly challenged pet bird? Again, we have proven that Bermuda is not only going down the tubes quickly, but that it is a big fat joke!
Actually it was during lunch time and there were a bunch of WORKING people there not thugs.
Well Thank you Minister Minors for using some of the taxpayers money on a display that should be used in October for a Halloween promotion.
Was what the Gombeys were doing even explained to the people that were subjected to that display???
I know the advertizing agency that thought up this promotion should be made to pay all the monies back then there contract terminated. As I am sure the firm used is an overseas one and is being paid very well for failing campaigns(more money leaving the local economy).
The promotion that the Department of Tourism should go for is the one that asks the taxpayer for ideas to promote the very island that they live in as they are the best stewards to promote it and always have been.
All you ppl are a bunch of cry baby complainers. All of you wanna post negative remarks about what they trying to do about tourism but none of you willing or trying to help. Just sit on the computer all day a criticize someone elses effort. Gombeys are appart of our heritage so they tried to take a different avenue then what they was doing before because tourism is on the decline. Time for some of you to get up from sitting infront of the computer screen complaining about everybody else and come up with something yourselfs…and lets see how many ppl you bring to the island….UNBELIEVABLE
As much as you don’t want to accept fact, the average visitor could not care less about Gombeys or heritage.
I spent 18 years on the tourism frontline. My contact was much more than a few minutes in a taxi or light talk across a bar. It was a minimum of 3 hours one on one. I am very aware of what their likes & dislikes are of the Island. And yes…I have spent many hundreds of hours giving time to projects such as The Competitiveness Commission & The Monitor Group in an effort to turn tourism around.
Governments, UBP & PLP, do not like unpleasant facts slapping them in the face.
Face it…Gombeys are a waste of time & money promoting Bermuda. Robert Symonds playing his style of island music would have been far better money spent.
So were you there Triangle? I was and it seemed like the gombeys were a hit AND lots of people got information about the island. So SHUT UP and go sit down somewhere…
Hey “Away” – please stay away! I live in Atlanta. I am the ideal demographic for a vacation at your Tucker’s Point Resort or Southampton Princess. I would only be caught DEAD at the Peachtree Center Mall. It is a thug hang out and if there were “working people there on their lunch break,” it was because they were working at the barely surviving Orange Julius stand. Sure they were interested – they wondered what the heck was going on and who these odd looking individuals were and why they were making so much noise. And sure, they took information – they are dreamers. Will they ever board a flight to Bermuda? NO. Will they even board a cruise ship? NO. Totally missed the mark on this one. But then again, no respectful mall would ever allow this type of disturbance. Do you honestly think Phipp’s Plaza would welcome these people? Ha – that is so funny! I just cracked myself up at the mere thought of that. Your hard earned tax dollars really went down the toilet with this little experiment. Better luck next time.
Who are we out there promoting? Bermuda? i dont think so! Gombeys, matter of fact originated from africa, due to the slave trade. Thats how their culture melted into ours. ITS TRIBAL, you see any tribes in bermuda? St.DAvids maybe.
And to the department of tourism, yall are outright failing. Bermuda has one thing and one thing only left in the tourism industry. That is our beautiful ocean and pink sand beaches!
Hmm ocean and beach, yeah no one else has that right? So let’s just focus on the ocean and the beach. That will set us apart from every other island, florida, hawaii, etc. Based on the comments above, I guess we can’t claim friendly people anymore either.
Sad to hear so much negativity but I guess that is the nature of these posts. Easy for folks to sit and complain in anonymity. I am familiar with Peachtree Center and it is one of Atlanta’s most highly trafficked locales with office buildings and professionals surrounding it. I also give the Department of Tourism credit for being aggressive. Promotions like this in a mall are inexpensive and why not complement other advertising and marketing efforts with doing something fun and memorable? I saw Bermuda got great coverage on TV in Baltimore for similar effort and based on this video I did see people gathered around taking pictures, etc. So what is the negative? And what is to differentiate us from any other island by just putting up a video screen with pretty images? Have some imagination folks and stop hating for the sake of hating.
You want to know what makes us different from florida ( which is not an island) and Hawaii. Florida and Hawaii have all inclusive resorts, which receives more interest from tourists’ because of the lower prices. Bermuda has it all wrong in the tourism industry; why waste money, on worthless trips such as these, while most cannot afford the pricy trip to bermuda. Why not take a different route?
Any ideas?
Well here we go again! I can truly understand Tourism making an effort to encourage people to visit Bermuda. Sports has a budget, does that suit you or should that be dropped as well because that is a waste of tax payers dollars?
Thick heads…you must take Bermuda to the people if they are not coming to Bermuda. It is a strategy which is a test. At least it wasn’t just the Gombeys, they had a booth there with info readily available to assist ppl and provide more information. PLEASE STOP COMPLAINING!!!!! NEGATIVE…GET A LIFE!
Honestly, some of our sports programs should not receive as much money as they do. Every Bermudian on the island knows how worthless our cricket team is, yet we still give millions of dollars a year, merely to watch them loose most games. I am a very positive person and believe in getting the best buck for your dollar. Bermuda wastes large sums of money and its a shame.
ok so thats what they should have, i mean they are promoting bermuda! Bermuda is best at doing thing half hearted. The people who orgainise anything stil get full credit, stop being so lazy!