Anyone who says that something can’t be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it.
Who would have dreamed that a white woman and an Afro-American male would be leading candidates for President of the United States? America’s Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama did, proving that if you have it in you to hope and to dream, you have it in you to succeed.
Who would have dreamed that a world-class tropical garden could be carved out of a remote Mespotamia mountainside in St. Vincent? Douglas Brisbane did and his work has been further developed by the indefatigable Timothy Vaughan. Today, Montreal Gardens has the potential to be a major tourist attraction. Last year we questioned the apparent oversight of our Government and Ministry of Tourism in not providing funding for access and media support to Montreal Gardens .
Who would have dreamed that St. Vincent & the Grenadines in 2002/03 would be the birthplace of a world-class media success that has become one of the greatest movies of all time. Disney did and supported by our Ministry of Culture, Pirates of the Caribbean – The Curse of the Black Pearl, filmed at Wallilabou, (which used many Vincentians as ‘Extras’ in the cast), was the first of a trilogy of movies that has been released around the world grossing almost $3 Billion US dollars during the past four years.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines association with Pirates of the Caribbean has become a Mecca for tourists. Any country would pay dearly to be able to market and capitalize on this association as part of its tourism attractions. Dr. Karl Eklund, who lives in St. Vincent eight months each year, has developed an outstanding website/blog on the history of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, as well as several thousand pictures of the many beautiful and interesting sites on the island. He told the Vincentian that the most frequently visited pictures are those of the Pirates film set.
Our Ministry of Tourism is doing an excellent job of marketing St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Over 200,000 cruise ship passengers visited our shores last year. The tourism television channel is an attractive and interesting travelogue of our country. The Ministry attends tourism and travel venues in Europe and North America and has an excellent opportunity to focus on these two national tourist sites.
Most will agree that the original Wallilabou movie site itself was worthy of a theme park. To be sure the structures were designed to be temporary, but they could have very easily been made permanent. The docks were ideally situated to accommodate visiting yachts and local tour boats. The restaurant was/is adequate to feed hundreds of visitors. The opportunities for the sale of local crafts are numerous.
Today, this location which has become known around the world, is a dilapidated, falling down shambles; a bare memory of the scenes familiar to so many people. It is a dangerous embarrassment to recommend as a tourist attraction.
The Wallilabou property is privately owned. It appears the current owners are either unaware of its potential as a tourist attraction or are unwilling to invest any money in refurbishing the site. Would it not make good economic sense for our government to support the designation of the site as a National Tourist Attraction, perhaps leasing the rights to repair the docking facilities and restore the actual ‘location’ to what it was three years ago. Partial cost recovery of funds could be realized by charging an admission fee, similar to other major attractions and theme parks around the world.
It should also be noted that the entrepreneurial Buccament Bay Resort project has plans to capitalize on the global popularity of the movie(s) and construct a replica hand-built solid wood ‘Black Pearl’ pirate ship to be moored offshore as a floating restaurant.
We should not let opportunities which have been virtually handed to us, slip away into fading memories of what might have been.
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