International Kite Festival, a potential tourism product

A variety of airborne kites at the festival

A Ministry of Tourism official has given the assurance of continued support for that an annual international kite festival which was held for the second time on Sunday April 14, 2019 at castle Bruce.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Urban Renewal, Careen Prevost said while delivering the vote of thanks at the festival that the Tourism ministry views the annual event as a potential tourism product and a very creative initiative that they will continue to support.

“We are very pleased to have all of the children who have come from across the island to be here at Castle Bruce today and I am pretty sure from all reports, it was a beautiful day,” Prevost said. “We would like to thank in a special way the Youth Development Division, the DYBT, the DYBT co ordinator, FLOW Dominica, the Kalinago Tours, Ernie Lawrence, Kelvin, the Sports Community, the Castle Bruce secondary School, the Ministry of Education, the bus drivers,  all of the volunteers who are here and the media who would’ve been here today to cover this event.”

She said the ministry of Tourism would like to see more visitors coming in to participate in this festival and would like to continue to work with the Youth Development Division and their partners on the event.

“I think we have over ten visiting participants and a number of individuals across the island…….we see this as a potential tourism product. It’s a very scenic area. We are in the Castle Bruce Bay and there is a lot to do around, the Kalinago territory next door, the KBA and we do have a number of our sites; we have the Emerald pool close by,” Prevost remarked.

The international partners were recognized and each received a token of appreciation.

The Annual International Kite Festival which was held this year, at Sikwi Park in Castle Bruce, is the brain-child of Haitian-born Watson Mitchell and is being organized in collaboration with the Youth Division and the Ministry of Tourism & Culture.

Captain of winning team receiving his prize from organizer, Watson Mitchell

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12 Comments

  1. GB
    April 22, 2019

    DNO you have the wrong name for the winner of the kite competition. Its Shealdon Riley

    ADMIN: We did not publish the winners name. The caption in the picture only names the organizer.

  2. Treadstone
    April 20, 2019

    In related news, a tourism official has declared that planning for an annual international marble hole festival is in its final stages. It will be in the form of an island-wide cross country trek. Expenses will be minimal since the endless supply of potholes in the roads will be used for the marble drops. Minister for Infrastructure has explained that all road resurfacing and restructuring have been placed on hold indefinitely to ensure a successful staging of the marble hole tournament. More information on this exciting and innovative economic endeavor will be provided in the near future, possible after the 2020 elections.

  3. Neutrallll
    April 18, 2019

    Boy Dominicans can talk nonsense when they ready en, You guys think tourist willl leave their homeland to come n fly kite? That just way way to small minded. Build an international airport, and develop the tourism product like St Lucia did… not that kite flying stuffff. Who cares bout kite flying …

  4. SMH
    April 18, 2019

    When will DDA & Ministry of Tourism understand that not every activity, heritage or ecological site has to become a tourism product ? Dominica First !!

  5. Ibo France
    April 18, 2019

    Kite-flying at Easter time is a cultural tradition. Let’s encourage local families from all over Dominica to participate by making it a truly family affair – fathers, mothers, children and the extended family members. If visitors want to joint in the fun, they are most welcomed with open arms. Keep it traditional.

  6. Willeb
    April 17, 2019

    No comment I am a foreign

  7. Willeb
    April 17, 2019

    We did kites a long time ago why a foreigner have to teach us now. Plain kites. Fish kites and others. We were the best around Easter. Give us our praise. Prophet is never honored in his land.

  8. Child of Itassi
    April 17, 2019

    Great way to get our youth interested and involved in the theory of flight and aviation. Doing anything with “tourism” as the main focus is unsustainable. It is a wonderful thing if and when tourists or visitors come to enjoy or participate, but we should be focusing on ideas to educate, enrich and entertain ourselves and our youth first and foremost.

  9. Karl Orndem
    April 17, 2019

    Anything in Dominica is a potential tourism product. Even bringing tourists to your home can be seen a a tourism product these days. The point is, whatever is done here, should be done with dignity, class and intended for ALL to safely enjoy. not just because we have or are expecting tourists here that we should do things better. We should ensure that our locals get the best treatment first, before make exceptions and market anything to tourists.

    Non the less, it is a good initiative which takes both children and their parents and friends away from computer related devices, encourages community gathering, promotes arts and crafts in the building of the kites, and encourages the use of nature while observing scientific aspects like physics (material used, wind direction, speed, etc.) in the process.

    • Zandoli
      April 18, 2019

      Wait right where you are, I am going to buy an airline ticket to come to Dominica to fly my kite.

      When these government people utter these words are they meant to be taken seriously?

      • Karl Orndem
        April 18, 2019

        I have no faith in PS Prevost. I hight doubt she fully understands or generally really cares about the intricacies of our tourism product. Everything in interconnected, everything indigenous here is product worthy, from a bush rum to a guesthouse experience to a hike or even a stroll through a village. I always say we need to fully refine our product and customer service and rebrand dominica as a luxury destination that is NOT easily accessible. Human nature is that people will always want what they cannot have, especially if others can have it instead of them. High end travelers dont want to be where there is mas tourism. they love exclusivity, they love to feel like they are doing things in places that noone is. They will spend and pay the extra mile because they can afford it. But as we stand we are not worth it to many because we have not done the research, understood the market or what marketing at all is, and we just blindly advertise and say come to Dca willy nilly

    • Ibo France
      April 18, 2019

      @Karl
      All good points. During the Easter break, instead of students being idle at home, there should be kite making workshops organized for these idle hands. All efforts should then be made to encourage the parents and relatives to watch and participate with their children engaging in kite flying. To incentivize maximum participation, prizes should be given to the largest kite, the prettiest, highest flying, best designed, etcetera. The prizes could be sponsored by local business places. This will be an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to give back something to the community who patronizes them all year round. There should be two categories, adults and children. By teaching the children to make their own kites, this will ensure that the tradition will extend to posterity.

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