April 30, 2001 — In what may or may not have been a veiled reference to his recent contretemps with business leaders at a tourism symposium, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull on Monday hailed V.I. Carnival 2001 as "testimony to what can happen when the public and private sector and people of goodwill come together to work to achieve a worthwhile community goal."
In a Government House statement released Monday, the governor also pronounced Carnival 2001 an "outstanding display of culture, talent, art and pageantry" that will go down in history for "its beauty, its improved coordination and its safe and generally incident-free events."
Turnbull expressed gratitude to the V.I. Carnival Committee for bringing it all together and to the business community "for the increased sponsorship of Carnival-related events, which made many of the activities possible."
Although he did not name them, the corporate sponsors this year included the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association (queen contestants and pageant); Innovative (traditional games); Pueblo International, with co-sponsors The Avis and Cingular Wireless (junior calypso competition); Coors Light/Bellows International (king and queen of the bands competition, Carnival poster); co-sponsor Cruzan Rum (Latin Night show); Heineken/Bellows International, with co-sponsor MSI Building Supplies (both calypso revues); Innovative Long Distance (Pan-O-Rama); West Indian Co. (the Village); Innovative Telephone (calypso competition); Knight Quality Stations, with co-sponsors Banco Popular, Coors Light, Innovative Cable TV/St. Thomas-St. John and MSI Building Supplies, plus logistical support from Lady Romney Shipping and WICO (fireworks); and co-sponsors American Airlines and Holiday Inn/Windward Passage Hotel (Latin Night, both calypso revuews, last-lap dance).
The governor also had thanks for government agencies that provided logistical support throughout Carnival — he named Health; Housing, Parks and Recreation; Justice and Corrections Bureau; Police; Property and Procurement; and Public Works.
On April 21, speaking at a dinner that was part of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association's 8th annual Destination Symposium, Turnbull had lashed out at the business community's opposition to his veto of a private/public Tourism Authority to oversee the territory's hospitality industry and its boycott of the advisory panel he created instead.
"There is nothing to gain by engaging in counterproductive actions and statements designed to undermine or postpone the progress we all seek and should all be working toward," he said then. He added that he was "disappointed that four of our tourism partners (the territory's two chambers of commerce and hotel associations) have declined to have their executive directors serve on my newly formed Tourism Advisory Committee."
In Monday's release, Turnbull also said the close of Carnival 2001 ushered in the countdown to the start of 16 months worth of celebrations being planned to mark the Golden Jubilee of V.I. Carnival as it was reintroduced to the territory in 1952. The observances are to run from September of this year through December of 2002.
"Properly coordinated," he said, "these activities have the potential of providing a major economic boost to our economy as part of a year-round program of events." He said the Tourism Department is to begin working with the 2002 planning committee "to ensure the integration of the Golden Jubilee into the overall advertising and promotional Virgin Islands campaign for next year."
