Dominica’s rugged and challenging terrain and breathtaking natural beauty will be experienced first-hand when the third edition of the endurance race, Nature Island Challenge (NIC) kicks off on April 13.
Six teams will be participating in the the challenge, two more than the previous years.
They are Trinidad White (defending champions), Team Barbados Yellow, USA Blue, USA Orange (affiliated with Ross University School of Medicine), Germany Red, and Germany Green (two members are journalists who will write about their experiences during the NIC).
The challenge will take the teams through the Waitukubuli National Trail (WNT) and to many of the attractions that the country boasts of such as the Middle-Ham Falls, the Fresh Water Lake, the Emerald Pool, and the Sultan waterfall.
Participants will also go through communities such as Scotts Head, Castle Bruce, Portsmouth, Marigot, Kalinago Territory and Bellevue Chopin.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Urban Renewal Stephenson Hyacinth said said at the launch of the event on Monday that NIC 3.0 “presents an avenue for Dominica to market our natural and scenic attractions which truly make Dominica the nature island of the world.”
He added that with a broad viewership coupled with the development of a realistic marketing plan and the aggressive implementation of the strategy, the event will “increase interest in and awareness of Dominica in the coming months and years.”
Chairman of the Discover Dominica Authority (DDA), Benoit Bardouille, said the Authority is “challenged” to constantly to refresh the marketing product of the island.
“So we have been seeking new ways to ensure that persons can begin to truly see the potential that Dominica has from the standpoint of visitation as a result of tourism,” He said. “Through NIC we begin to set up things that persons can see and observe, people having fun and we want people to experience the nature, we want people to experience our culture and we want people to enjoy themselves during the adventure.”
The NIC was featured on NBC Sports last year for an hour, it was re-broadcasted CMC with viewers in the USA, Canada and the Caribbean.
The teams were encouraged to enjoy their experience and spread the word about Dominica and what the country has to offer.
NIC 3.0 Challenges Coordinator Samantha Letang added that “after months of planning and site visits and preparations…we are finally here.”
The challenge ends on April 17.
Next year we will be having a Team from the Kalinago Territory, I know with a team from the area, that they will definitely be the winners. They will be sponsored by Kalinago Tours, and others from the Kalinago Territory and the rest of the country.
True true say. we have so many talented athletes, in Dominica and not one Team? Something wrong, unless we have no confidence in our own people. The third? by now Dominica should be in the forefront, we should be challenging the outsiders to come and comb though our evergreen forested terrain. Hope we start to work on our own team as soon as this challenge is over and this medium alerts our organizers that something is missing.
What colour does Dominica represent? Didn’t read that in any section. ????
There is definitely less interest without a /dominica team. I just don;t understand what sponsorship has to do with that, Perhaps I don;t understand, but what would a team dominica need a sponsor for? If it came fine but without one I can imagine four t shirts, place to sleep each night, the bag pack with all the stuff from invest dominica ,,,, what again, someone tell me.
I am sure and approach to a an exercise group like dwivayese could solve the problem.
Come on Mr, Piper, local interest should also be encouraged, And it would also be a further challenge to the others to see whether they can beat us at our game
Ridiculous
I thought he was General Manager of Dominica Air and Sea Ports Authority? How many jobs does one Labour boss hold on this island? Chairman of the Discover Dominica Authority (DDA), Benoit Bardouille? What are these people qualifications?
According to this article there are 8 teams but only 3 teams were mentioned. If Dominica has not fielded a team then this does not bode well at all.
Tourism is everyone’s business yet people have a year to field a team and fail to bring one forward. Yet we are talking about marketing the country, really. Great opportunity to help market our own country and we can’t even represent our island in an event which is being held in our own island. What a damn shame
Give me a break…how does DDA make the decision for people to participate in this event…maybe no Dominicans registered…. come on stop judging….
Give you a break,? Sorry, no break for you or those organising the event.
It is absolutely shameful that an event which porports to being a vihecle to aid the tourism product, has no representitive even representing their brand, so it beggers belief that you are asking to give them a break.
I do not believe that it was up to the DDA or the challenges coordinator to get or seek sponsorship for a Dominican Team. I am sure you do not know about the effort that was put into getting a Dominican Team so please do not assume nothing was done. What about our corporate sponsors? Did they not see this as a great opportunity to promote themselves? Imagine that a USA team is sponsored by Anchorage Hotel!!!!!
I looooove events like this!!!!!! More more!
I have one question for the organizers. Is there going to be a DVD/CD made available for sale for thoses of us out of the country? If yes how will be be able to purchase a copy? This is a very good way of show casing the nature Isle. If we can get a copy of the DVD/CD we can in turn show and share it with our friends since word of mouth is still one of the best ways to advertise any product.
Not 1 team from Dominica. Ridiculous!
It is open to any company in Dominica to sponsor a team for Dominica. It is not fair for DDA to sponsor a team as the organiser
If DDA provides a team and win you will be singing a different song
Shame on us in Dominica…not even a simple thing like that we can execute… What so deficit in putting a team or 2 together….De country Nice …
wait awhile so Dominica not in the challenge alas, alas, I want to do this next year serious…
What a shame!!! No team DOMINICA!!!!???? After a whole year of preparation, its a shame that there could be no collaboration among Discover Dominica Authority, the Ministry of Tourism and Urban Renewal, NIC 3.0 Challenge, specifically coordinator, Samantha Letang, could not organize to field a Team Dominica 1 and Team Dominica 2. While it is true that we will still get the publicity of the event happening in Dominica, it would be more beneficial to DOMINICA if we had people participating. Not being able to get sponsorship is no excuse. The promoters should provide sponsorship of a team as part of the promotion. I would have been excited to a Dominica team or two involved. Now i have less interest.
With no team from the organising host country, all we are telling the world is, we are only interested in their money and less about the nature we bray about.