Minister Furbert Promotes Bermuda In NY
Minister of Business Development and Tourism Wayne Furbert attended media events and interviews during a recent two-day visit to New York City.
Minister Furbert represented Bermuda at two high-profile events with national travel magazine powerhouse Conde Nast Traveler. The first event, held on Tuesday, September 18th, was a gala reception to celebrate the magazine’s 25th anniversary and also celebrate visionaries who the magazine deemed are transforming the world.
Among those honoured were New York City Mayor and frequent Bermuda visitor Michael Bloomberg, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and entrepreneur Richard Branson.
Minister Furbert represented Bermuda again on Wednesday, September 19th at the Conde Nast Traveler 2012 Readers’ Choice luncheon. Bermuda is past winner of the award for “Best Island in the Caribbean and Atlantic” and this year’s winners will be announced in the November issue, available on newsstands in mid-October.
Prior to the luncheon, Minister Furbert started the day with an early morning appearance on the popular “WPIX Morning News” programme. The live show, which reaches hundreds of thousands of New York metropolitan area viewers, featured an interview with WPIX reporter Craig Treadway, who interviewed Minister Furbert on why New Yorkers should consider the island for a vacation getaway.
Treadway made special note of the island’s proximity and ease of access and provided the opportunity for Minister Furbert to tout Bermuda’s new ‘So Much More’ campaign while focusing on the island’s culture, history, dining and other key selling points.
They also discussed the upcoming John Lennon concert and the former New York City resident’s close connection to the island.
Minister Furbert also taped an interview in the afternoon in conjunction with America’s Luxury Marketing Council, a business-building, revenue-generating global community of CEOs and CMOs considered leaders in the field of luxury marketing.
Minister Furbert’s interview will run on the organization’s website, www.luxurycouncil.com, as part of its “Conversations with Leaders in Luxury” video series. Other leaders who have previously been interviewed for the series include: Adam Tihany of Tihany Design, Ted Tang of Leading Hotels of the World, and Harry Hohmeister of Swiss Air.
“This trip has been an extremely productive one from both the business and tourism side,” said Minister Furbert. “New York City is such a crucial market for this destination and this was a great opportunity to come in and build some good will and exposure. I was gratified to experience the very strong positive feelings people have for Bermuda and am excited to see the efforts bear fruit for our island.”
Dear Minister Furbert,
When was the last time you visited the Constituency known as Hamilton Parish West?
Bermuda is so much more
He stopped by and spoke with my family the other day. Nice man, real people person but I’m still not sure if I want to vote for PLP or UBP/OBA. I’m waiting for the parties platforms.
No offence, but I certainly hope our Minister did a better job than what was reflected on the local news last night of him being interviewed on some TV station…
Why didn’t facts and wonderful stores just roll right off him tongue about Bermuda. My kids did a better 1 minute expose on all things Bermuda than this man did on National TV!! People STILL don’t know where we are or what we do based on his insignificant chatter…….
Minister – don’t listen the these lot they are just jealous of you for your airmiles and expense account and that you and your mates will be first in line when Gaming is introduced these bloggers are a pain and do not understand what it takes for you to be a good minister, Minister. you are doing a great job and we love you expecially as we hear that you will soon run to lead the PLP and Bermudas economy back from this $1 point 4 Billion mess. good work
I’m sorry, but the man looked like an idiot. Golf season opens this week in Bermuda and the man didn’t mention golf or tennis once… he mentioned the Gombeys (“people who dress up”) twice! and churches as our heritage… give me a big fat break. how much did that cost us btw?
What’s wrong with the Gombeys, you people still don’t get it do you. That’s why come election day you will lose. The PLP has not been perfect, but you floppers from the OBA don’t get what the black man wants. I bet you none of the candidates running for OBA would be so stupid and bash the gombeys. Changing the name will not work. You people don’t respect us so don’t act like you do by fronting majority blacks faces in a majority white party. Why don’t you run Dunkley as your leader the whole Island knows he has more brains then Craig in one finger. I’ll tell you how to beat the PLP. If half the whites in the OBA should join the PLP. Then races and colors would be balance, then you would see people flip flopping between both parties.
How much revenue do the gombeys bring into the island? I believe its you that still doest get it. When our island goes down the tubes because those responsible for promoting it fail to promote the most obvious and crucial things we have to offer, I’m sure the beat of your drum will keep a smile on your face and food on your table. The gombeys are just a tiny slice of what this island has to offer, sorry. Sorry again because the way things are looking, come election time it may actually be enjoyable to watch the hopes and dreams of people like you and laverne get crushed as the abismal reign of plp arrogance and ignorance comes to an end, or things can get worse, either one. Tell me, if the island keeps going the way it is, will people respect you more? Who is us? Small minded people seperate people into classes, someone with a broader view can judge people on an individual basis, where respect is EARNED.
I think his point was that the Gombeys are a major part of our heritage and culture.
That’s a given but you don’t see tourists flocking here for fish cakes do you? My point and the point of the person he responded to is that the gombeys as well as fish cakes don’t bring in enough revenue to the island to be mntioned twice while you fail to mention the most essential assets the island has to offer. Yes tourists love the gombeys but that’s like saying fly here for an art mels fish sandwich, 5 mins and its done, now what? We also have a lot of British history but that’s never important, we’re slowly destroying all of that. Sorry but most golfers have $$$ hence the time to play golf, why wasn’t that mentioned again?. The gombeys are PART of our culture and should forever remain, but if someone asked me why they should choose Bermuda as a destination, gombeys would be the best answer? Nice happy people went out the window years ago. Go check the bright f@ckin ray of sunshine that works at east broadway shell and arnolds express for a prime example.
The Minister sings better than he talks – he has memorized the lyrics unlike the speeches because he doesn’t write them.
“A gala reception” followed the next day by “a luncheon”…the good news is that Conde Nast paid to feed and water one of our larger politicians for a couple days
The bad news? 11 more people are out of a job today, wondering where their next meal is coming from.
Hmmmm thought it was Billy Griffiths,lol.
Painful to watch from start to finish.
Tourism Authority – give the job to the people who best know the product, know how to best sell it, and have the greatest stake in seeing it sold well.
He had totally lost it, he didn’t have a clue of what to say. Gombeys dancing in the streets.
Too much buck’s fizz (champagne and orange juice) and smoked salmon for breakfast.
Hope the Gala Dinner was a success.
Everyone just chill the flip out! Maybe it really was William Griffith…in a halloween costume.
Okay, that was silly but give the minister a break. Sure he could have used his time to talk about things like golf, tennis, Harbor Nights, Cup Match, Concerts in the Park or even Spring Break promotions if he felt like reaching. Instead he thought it most important to place the much-needed spotlight on Bermuda being the oldest British territory, Parliament, churches, the “people dressed in costumes” and of course, the ever-present shameless plug which is really a delusion of his singing ability. Shame on his cronies for continuing to allow him to embarrass himself.