South West England launch Challenge Me! at Watergate Bay

South West England is encouraging Brits to get active and beat the winter blues, by getting involved in its exciting new initiative, “Challenge Me!”  Individuals set a challenge for themselves or for someone else, and then proudly share their achievements on social networking sites.

On Monday 7^th December at Watergate Bay, a group of apprentice chefs from the Jamie Oliver-inspired Fifteen Cornwall and instructors from the Extreme Academy challenged each other to swap roles for the day!  Apprentice chefs were ordered out of the kitchen and onto the beach to complete a gruelling ‘coordination challenge’ to kite-buggy up the north Cornish coast. This was after the extreme sports instructors found themselves deep in new waters as they were challenged to cook a three-course meal to be judged by Fifteen’s Executive Chef.

Kirsty Cumming, Deputy Director of South West Tourism, said; “We’re encouraging people to challenge themselves or each other, to try something different. The south west offers so many exciting and challenging activities from coasteering to surfing, to cooking and cycling, and now is the perfect time to get motivated, get active, and to enjoy the south west!”

The South West England website, www.visitsouthwest.co.uk provides inspiration and ideas for activity breaks in the region. To participate in “Challenge Me!” visit the Challenge Me! South West England page on Facebook, or the blog at www.challengemesouthwest.wordpress.com, and follow the instructions. Challenges that are photographed or filmed and meet the criteria will have the chance to win prizes, including a voucher from White Stuff for the first challenge posted. Challengers can also follow @ChallengeMeSW on Twitter.

It’s easy to get involved:

1. Set your challenge – it could be an activity or sport you’ve never tried but always wanted to!
2. Find a partner or a group if you want to challenge each other
3. Take a photo or video of you and your ‘challengers’ partaking in the activity and post on the Challenge Me! Facebook page
4. The Challenge Me! Team will contact eligible ‘challengers’ to enter the prize draw.

The Rules:

Photos or videos must show something that connects you to the south west. Eg you could be holding a south west county flag; a south west England town name is in the background; or your T-shirt shows the name of the activity centre where you are. It is up to you – be creative!

Challenges must be completed and posted before 31 March 2010.

Tips:

The activity does not have to be death-defying! All you have to do is challenge yourself.

Stuck for Ideas? Visit www.visitsouthwest.co.uk where you will find a whole host of activities, but to get you started:

• The Rumble in the Jungle Adventure Golf at Cabot Circus, Bristol
• Abseiling and Caving with ‘Rocksport’ at Cheddar Caves & Gorge
• Gliding over lakes and countryside by Hovercraft at Adrenalin Quarry in Cornwall
• Snurfkling at the Animal Surf Academy in Cornwall – a course for children aged eight to 16 where they swim out on surfboards with face masks and explore what is on the sea bottom
• Ashburton Cookery School in Devon, which offers over 40 different cookery courses from dessert making to dinner parties
• Horseback riding across the welcoming wilderness of Salisbury Plain or the Marlborough Downs
• Cycling in Gloucestershire’s Forest of Dean on the 11 mile Family Cycling Trail
• Fly fishing or coarse fishing at The Cotswold Water Park with over 130 lakes covering 40 square miles
• Birdwatching on the Isles of Scilly, the only place in England where the secretive storm petrel nests
• Zipwiring through trees, crawling through tunnels and tackling high wire rope bridges in Bournemouth at the Go Ape centre

Extreme Academy try cooking at Fifteen Cornwall:

Fifteen Cornwall’s chefs try Kitebuggying with Extreme Academy:

Photos:

- ENDS -

A video and photography of the Fifteen Cornwall and Extreme Academy challenges is available.

Media contact:

Megan Whiteside
McCluskey International
Phone: 0208 237 7979
Email: megan@mccluskey.co.uk

South West England is the largest of England’s nine official regions and covers Gloucestershire (marketed as Cotswolds and Forest of Dean), Bath, Bristol, Dorset, Bournemouth & Poole, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

The South West is the UK’s leading holiday destination hosting approximately 19 million domestic overnight trips annually and an associated visitor spend of more than £3.6 billion. The region accounts for 20% of England’s domestic trips, 24% of nights and 22% of spend.

Strictly Come Dancing comes to Warner Leisure Hotels

Darren Bennet and Lilia Copylova of BBC series Strictly Come Dancing (picture above with Allan Lambert, Head of Retail Sales, Bourne Leisure) visited the Bourne Leisure offices today to launch Warner Leisure Hotels new Strictly Come Dancing themed breaks.

Running from February to July, across five locations, your guests can get up close and personal with some of their favourite Strictly stars as they bring the show to life – including Darren & Lilia, James & Ola, Brian & Kristina, Anton & Erin, Vincent & Flavia, Ian & Camilla and Karen Hardy. Joining the professional dancers will be Strictly Come Dancing judges Craig Revel Horwood and Len Goodman (Please call 0808 141 111 or visit www.bourneleisuresales.co.uk for confirmation of celebrity appearances and dates).

During the Warner break guests will develop their own dancing skills with tuition led by some of the top professionals from the world of dance. So whether taking their first steps, or perfecting more intricate dance sequences, this is a chance for guests to experience the moves as seen on TV and learn from the very best. The package also includes a spectacular ‘Strictly Showcase’ – a chance to watch beautifully choreographed dance displays and show-stopping routines.

The three or four night stays in five historic hotels across the UK, allow guests to be part of the show. Get involved with the glitz and glamour by dressing up and opting to take part in the Strictly Come Dancing Comes to Warner competition – the perfect opportunity to show off new skills and dazzle the crowds! These unique breaks give guests the chance to compete, judge, or simply sit back, relax and enjoy being part of the ‘live’ audience.

Warner Leisure Hotels Head of Creative Entertainments, Sarah Dakin enthuses “This exciting collaboration with BBC Worldwide and the Strictly Come Dancing brand will add spectacularly to the Warner Leisure Hotels popular dance break portfolio, bringing the show alive for both experienced dancers and those new to the floor. Ultimately we are offering our guests a unique experience to get up close and personal with both the glitz and glamour and their Strictly Come Dancing favourites”.

Richard Halliwell, Commercial Director for Dancing with the Stars (the international title for Strictly Come Dancing) at BBC Worldwide said: “We are delighted that Warner Leisure Hotels will be taking the Strictly Come Dancing experience to fans throughout the country. The collaboration with Warner’s, the first of its kind for the Strictly Come Dancing brand, offers an opportunity for like-minded fans to get together and waltz into the world of Strictly.”

Strictly Come Dancing at Warner Leisure Hotels is the perfect experience to share as a couple or with a group of friends – as well as using this opportunity to make new friends.

Vivid Sydney & Brian Eno

We worked with ITN Consulting to produce a Video News Release to maximise UK media coverage of the Vivid Sydney festival. The Video News Release included a 3:00 minute A-Roll package voiced by the reporter and a 10 minute B-Roll that included the best sound bites and cutaways from two filming days.

Vivid Sydney, developed by Events NSW in partnership with the City Of Sydney, is the biggest international music and light festival in the Southern Hemisphere. It showcases Sydney as a major creative hub in the Asia-Pacific region, celebrating the diversity of Sydney’s creative industries.

This unique new public festival will transform the city into a spectacular living canvas of music and light in and around the Sydney Opera House, The Rocks, Circular Quay and the city centre. One of the highlights is Luminous – an annual festival of music, debate, light and performance. Curated by Brian Eno, Luminous features a plethora of music acts alongside public talks and spectacular light and art installations.

The A-roll (audio and video) and B-roll sound bites for radio and online use was made available via an ITN Consulting dedicated webpage from 0600(BST) on Wednesday 27th May 2009. The A-roll and B-roll for television was made available at 2200(BST) on Tuesday 26th May 2009 to UK television broadcasters. A further distribution was made at 0600(BST) on Wednesday 27th May 2009.

The material was edited at Channel 7 News studios in Sydney, approved by our client Tourism New South Wales, fed to London and there, through satellite links, distributed to UK broadcasters and ITN’s international affiliates.

The VNR and Vivid Sydney achieved excellent coverage, specifically in the online fields. Having the video made a huge difference and enabled the websites to take the content and highlight Vivid. Coverage value totaled £1,378,334.

Additionally, the VNR is to be used in a BBC Arena programme on Brian Eno to be broadcast in the summer of 2009.

Some of the coverage is linked to below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8071639.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8068173.stm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/5387810/The-Sydney-Smart-Light-project-with-Brian-Eno-part-of-the-Vivid-Festival.html

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-GB&vid=3da465d8-4a64-4f10-becf-b1da359bdb87

http://itn.co.uk/814fc69b42f22020a387c7a000f7b989.html

http://www.blinkx.com/video/artists-light-up-sydney-opera-house/StYnSFYdtqHAVj3iz8A7Rw

Jamaica celebrates Usain Bolt’s win in Manchester

The Jamaica Tourist Board in partnership with Real Deals Travel and SuperClubs laid on a celebratory event for Usain Bolt and other athletes, following Bolt’s stunning best-ever time at the Bupa Great Manchester 150m on Sunday (17th May).

After turning the streets of Manchester green, black and gold in support of sprinters Xavier Brown, Mario Forsythe and Usain Bolt, the JTB then got the celebratory party going at Manchester’s Circle Bar for the athletes and their local supporters including footballers Ricardo Gardner, Ricardo Fuller, El-Hadji Diouf and others. Jamaican food and rum punch was provided to the guests, in addition to the opportunity to win two trips to Jamaica sponsored by SuperClubs. Also attending the event was birthday girl and Olympic 400m gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu.

Torrance Lewis of the Jamaica Tourist Board said: “With the inclusion of three Jamaican athletes at this spectacular athletics meet, we were pleased to be able to show our support both at the race and afterwards. I am sure Usain Bolt was as pleased as we were to see the Jamaican flags flying. Yet again, he has made Jamaica proud and I am sure brought Jamaica to the top of the minds of people watching the race.”

Carl Hamilton from Real Deals Travel went on to comment, “We had great success in promoting Jamaica, Real Deals and SuperClubs to the many thousands of people who had come down to view the race. It was a special occasion for Manchester and yet another special race for Usain Bolt and his fans.”

Image above – from left to right: Torrance Lewis (Direct Sales Manager, UK, Jamaica Tourist Board), Ricardo Gardner (Bolton Wanderers & Jamaica Football Team), Usain Bolt, Zoe Bennett (Sales Representative, JTB)

Maldives President in London

We were honoured on 6th April 2009 to host a visit to the UK by President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives. We arranged a press conference at the Churchill Hotel in London – as you can see from the photo, the room was packed. Many of the UK’s top travel writers and tour operators were in attendance.

President Nasheed announced that the Maldivian Government will grant permission for the construction of new guest houses across the islands and improved public transport in a bid to attract the middle market.

He also outlined the islands’ target of achieving Carbon Neutral Status within ten years.

Ed Robertson from Travel Weekly attended the press conference, so you can see a full report in Travel Weekly here.

We also achieved coverage in the Times and the Telegraph.

(Photo courtesy Phil Gammon)

Inspiring Travel Agents

At the Chicago and Illinois stand at World Travel Market, agents had the chance to meet Chicago Joe – the face of a new interactive social media training concept.

Newly launched at the show, this innovative training concept concentrates on utlilising the growth of social media and the internet by providing agents with new and interesting ways to learn about the city.

Chicago Joe is a destination personality – bringing Chicago to life. He will communicate with agents via a dedicated homepage – www.gochicago.com/joe, podcasts, Facebook, and training videos on YouTube and DVD.

Competitions will initially provide incentive for agents to communicate with Joe, with viral and word of mouth marketing continuing to spread the message. The campaign was launched with a series of teaser adverts in Travel Weekly.

So – if you know any travel agents, tell them all about it! Chicago Joe would love to meet them!

“I certainly haven’t seen anything like this before. It is a great way to encourage agents to have a bit of fun and learn at the same time. What with the economy and the industry the way it currently is, Joe is a great form of keeping agents busy and helping them learn how and why they should be pushing the destination.”
Fiona Robbins, Funway Holidays

“Joe is unique and will appeal to our agents as we try and have fun with training as it usually means the information is absorbed better than by traditional sessions. I like the fact Joe talks about his own personal experiences as this is something customers appreciate when they are booking, so any help and information we can give them will help our agents clinch sales.”
Vicki Brewer, Lotus Group

UK Trade Fam to Chicago

McCluskey International was proud to organise and participate in a St Patrick’s Weekend FAM trip to Chicago, where four key product staff from leading UK operators were introduced to the Windy City. The UK group included representation from Virgin Holidays, Lotus Group, Lastminute.com and Funway Holidays.

The sun was shining and the river was luminous green as we arrived at the Westin River North, our base for the next four days. The celebration of all things Irish was in full swing as we were whisked out for a delicious Italian family-style dinner at Buca di Beppo.

The trip highlighted all the fantastic new and exciting things to see and do in Chicago, such as Greeter Tours, double decker bus touring, hotel site inspections and a view 1,127 feet above Michigan Avenue atop the Hancock Building. We strolled past President Obama’s family home, laughed until our faces hurt at the improvisation theatre at Second City and nodded along to some of the best live Jazz and Blues music we’d ever heard at Blue Chicago.

The group was mesmerised by the beautiful architecture and sculpture in the city such as Cloud Gate at Millennium Park and we also got a sneak preview of the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute which is going to be fantastic when it opens in May.

The saying goes, ‘you never leave Chicago hungry’ and this certainly rang true for our trip! We enjoyed some of Chicago’s finest deep dish pizza pie at Pizzeria Ora and divine steak and seafood at Shula’s Steak House. This was in between sampling authentic Chicago hot dogs and Garrett’s Popcorn, of course!

The trip was planned to inform and educate some of the UK’s key tour operators on just how much there is to see and do in Chicago and how rapidly the city is growing and developing. It has morphed into a dynamic and world-class destination, with top notch shopping, dining and entertainment. With 29 miles of golden sand beach fringing the city and myriad free festivals and celebrations year-round, Chicago is a four season city just waiting to welcome you and your clients.

Jersey visits Fifteen in May

Jersey and the restaurant Fifteen are to form a month-long partnership in May 2009. The high-profile London restaurant will be dishing up the Island’s fantastic fresh seasonal produce as part of its lunch and dinner menus.

For the whole of May, the menu at Fifteen restaurant will include Jersey-sourced crab, Jersey Royal potatoes, bass, pollack, scallops, cream, butter, crème fraiche, asparagus, salads and possibly Jersey Black Butter. Diners will not only experience the dishes, but front of house staff will tell them about the origin of the Jersey-grown ingredients, giving customers an idea of the ethos, care and attention behind and given to all of the island’s produce.

Andrew Parkinson, Executive Head Chef at Fifteen, says: “We serve food of the highest quality made from the best ingredients, and Jersey has fantastic ingredients. Our front of house staff will learn about the Island, so that they are able to tell diners not only about the dishes but also about the provenance and quality of Jersey produce. Jersey Royals have been a long-standing signature ingredient on our menus in May but this wider promotion will be a great showcase for even more Jersey produce and we hope an opportunity to start a long-term relationship with more suppliers.”

As part of the month long celebration Fifteen is involved in a range of initiatives to promote Jersey and its fresh produce in London during May. Fifteen’s Executive Head Chef Andrew Parkinson will be visiting Jersey with the two graduate chefs and a restaurant manager during March to see for themselves the background of the produce, in addition to them preparing the produce in a special menu at one of the island’s restaurants. Additionally, Andrew will also be taking part in a cookery demonstration at the Real Food Festival using Jersey produce and showcasing the quality they offer.

Economic Development Minister, Senator Alan Maclean, commented, ‘This partnership will give Jersey a very welcome additional profile in London at an opportune time and to an ideal audience. It represents not only a positive boost for our food producers but also for the Island as a tourist destination’.

For more photos of the Fifteen team’s visit to Jersey, see the Jersey Facebook page. McCluskey International accompanied the trip equipped with a video camera, see this footage from our YouTube channel -

Jerking in Jamaica with AWT

On a stunning private beach at Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios, British celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson took on Jamaica’s top jerk chefs in an audacious bid to prove he had taken the island’s signature dish to a new level.

He came tantalisingly close but, in the end, chefs Rupert Bourne and Mark ‘Max’ Miller were crowned joint winners of the first ever International Jamaica Jerk Challenge. Bourne and Miller, the two Jamaican jerk specialists, took on two of the world’s leading chefs, Worrall Thompson from London, and Cheryl Smith of New York, to win the auspicious title.

Mr. John Lynch, Director of Tourism, Jamaica Tourist Board commented: “Jerk is our most famous dish, so when Antony said he had the best jerk recipe it seemed like a great idea to put him to the test with some of Jamaica’s most famous jerk chefs on one of our best beaches.”

Having instigated the Challenge with his boast of having the best jerk recipe, Antony Worrall Thompson was thrilled at his own performance: “No one expected a British chef to win here but the result was surprisingly close. The Jamaicans had 50 years of experience between them, while this was my first time cooking in a jerk pit. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it has only enhanced my love for Jamaica and its cuisine.”

Rupert Bourne has been jerking meats in Boston Beach, the birthplace of this unique cooking method, for over 30 years. According to him, the result was never in doubt: “We are the original jerk cooks in Boston. It’s great that jerk is popular all over the world but no matter how good these chefs are, it all started with us.”

Max Miller is head chef at Scotchies the leading jerk restaurant in Ocho Rios. He was equally pleased with his win: “I was quietly confident because this is something I do every day and I am passionate about it. We stay true to the traditional way of jerking meat.”

The judging panel included celebrated food authors and key industry players; Virginia Burke, Gariel Ferguson and Dennis McIntosh. This highly esteemed team of judges conducted a blind tasting before announcing the winner of the Jamaica Jerk Challenge.

Virginia Burke commented: “The standard of jerking was extremely high today. Rupert has been doing this for 30 years and Scotchies is the leading jerk restaurant, yet Antony and Cheryl were brave enough to take them on.”

Mary Phillips, General Manager of Jamaica Inn was delighted with the result: “This initiative will highlight authentic Jamaican food to travellers who may stay in hotels like ours but want to sample fabulous roadside cuisine during a trip to Jamaica”.

“As one of the finest resorts in the Caribbean, we are known for our cuisine but our guests couldn’t wait to sample this wonderfully spicy jerk pork and chicken served by these world-class chefs straight from fiery pit barbecues on the beach.”

Redemption Vacation

A hotel in Jamaica has started offering guests the chance to cut a record in its in-house studio. We secured coverage in the Guardian where Bob Marley fan Sarfraz Manzoor lives out his rock-star fantasies by recording his own distinctive version of ‘Redemption Song’.

You can see the coverage here, and there’s also a fantastic audio slideshow where you can see and hear the results.

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