On Tuesday November 7th, 2017 at the breezy Seagrapes Restaurant, Bay Gardens Beach Resort, Sponsors of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) gave the “all clear” for ARC 2017 by way of a cheque handing over ceremony to national event producers Events Company of St. Lucia Inc (ECSL).
Present for this occasion were representatives from various key stakeholders including, the Ministry of Tourism, the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, the World Cruising Club (WCC) and the Events Company of St. Lucia Inc.
The ceremony kicked off with ECSL Public Relations Officer Mineva Ross doubling up as Mistress of Ceremony for this special event, who established that the ARC has been a staple of the Saint Lucia Events calendar for over three decades.
Noted was the tremendous reach of ARC, attracting some 200 boats from over 40 countries worldwide, with over 1500 participants expected to visit Saint Lucia during the month of November into December and even into the new year.
As part of their stay in Saint Lucia, ARC 2017 participants are expected to be fully immersed in the Saint Lucian culture with a planned-out activities calendar to include island tours, cultural concerts and other special events.
Present were Sean Devaux, General Manager of IGY Rodney Bay Marina who thanked sponsors, partners and the media for their support over the years.
Peta Cozier, Event Manager for the World Cruising Club spoke to the value of the local partnerships, which have made ARC a success for Saint Lucia and Saint Lucians. “We cannot emphasize enough the value of the support that Saint Lucia and Saint Lucians have given to ARC. The WCC depends greatly on these relationships to ensure the success of this event and we thank you greatly for your dedication and commitment to hosting ARC each year for the past 3 decades,” comments Peta Cozier.
Also present was the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority represented by Donnalyn Vittet who spoke to the value of collaboration, pledging their continued support for this event as the Authority explores international markets and opportunities to grow ARC and other events on the Saint Lucia events calendar.
Leila Williams, Marketing and Sponsorship Officer of ECSL outlined the role of ECSL for ARC, noting that with the event planning expertise of ECSL the ARC Planning Committee can give more focus to developing the ARC product and caring for its stakeholders. Sean Compton, Chairman of the ARC Planning Committee commended his team for their tremendous work and thanked the sponsors and partners for working closely with his committee to ensure the successful staging of ARC.
The main item on the agenda was the cheque handing over ceremony, where sponsors of ARC generously and publicly stated their commitment to the event by presenting their cheque to ECSL. Present were Platinum Sponsor FLOW, Gold sponsors SOL EC, The Wave, Windward and Leeward Brewery and Daher Broadcasting Service (DBS), Silver sponsor St. Lucia Distillers and Bronze sponsors St. Lucia Electricity Services, Mercury, Sixt Car Rental, Constantine Holdings Incorporated and Massy Stores.
For more information about the island of Saint Lucia, call 1-800-456-3984, or 1-888 4STLUCIA or visit http://www.stlucia.org/.
