Feb. 26, 3002 – Booth No. 485 at the 19th annual Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention in Miami Beach, Fla., will promote the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Three groups — the V.I. Port Authority, the V.I. Tourism Department and the West Indian Company, Ltd. — are co-sponsoring the booth at the March 4-6 convention.
More than 1,000 companies from 100 countries will be participating and exhibiting this year, said a release from the Port Authority. It's an opportunity for tourism and port officials to network with leaders in the cruise and shipping industry, and for promotion of the islands to an international audience.
Attendance at the 2002 convention topped 10,000, according to the 2003 convention's Web site.
The booth this year, a redesign based on last year's creation, is again the work of Denise Humphrey, assistant technical director at the Reichhold Center for the Arts, and a crew. On Wednesday, Humphrey said she was leaving shortly to assemble the booth on site in Miami. For details on the creation of the original booth, see last year's St. Thomas Source article, How the V.I. Seatrade show booth got built.
Local businesses and individuals who have contributed products and services to this effort include: Big America Gift Shop, Carabana at Havensight, Caribbean Rum Balls, Jacquel Dawson, Humphrey, Louis Ible Jr., Cathy O'Gara, Pink Papaya, Allan Richardson, Scenic Publishers and Distributors (doing business as TOPS), V.I. Rum Industries and the Viking Corporation.
Inquiries about the convention may be made to the Port Authority's public relations office at 774-1629, ext. 640.
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