THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508040200
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
A plan to stage a Virginia Waterfront International Festival in 1997 was announced last week by the Virginia Waterfront organization, a Norfolk-based regional promotional group.
When I heard about the plan, I immediately started calling around to find out if Portsmouth was included in the plans. Lo and behold, we are.
``People are working together to get as many cities as possible involved,'' said Ports Events Director Linda Lamm, Portsmouth's representative on the festival committee.
Of course, that will be difficult.
Already, there are some rumblings - such as those heard from Virginia Beach folks who think such a festival might impact on the Virginia Beach Art Show. This year, the art show expanded to include some musical presentations and had more of a festival type promotion.
However, considering that the Virginia Beach show and the proposed regional festival would be at different times, it would appear that the proposed new events could only enhance Virginia Beach's season by giving people yet another reason to come here.
Rob Cross, the Virginia Symphony member who has been hired as executive director of the festival, is a native of Virginia Beach. Maybe as a local person, rather than a fast-talking newcomer, he can convince Virginia Beach that the festival can only enhance its tourist business.
It seems to me that every city in the region - Williamsburg and Virginia Beach included - stands to gain from the promotion of arts in the region.
An international arts festival obviously would be promoted internationally. I bet it would appeal to a whole new market, even for well-known Williamsburg and Virginia Beach.
Virginia Waterfront really is a Norfolk project, although it started out to involve Williamsburg and Virginia Beach. It is an effort to promote the region as a place to visit. Part of the appeal of that sort of promotion is that it reaches beyond those who just want to go to the beach or who just want to see restored Williamsburg.
Keith Toler, director of the Portsmouth Convention and Visitors Bureau, works with that committee. In fact, Toler has done much toward improving our relations with other cities.
For instance, Portsmouth is part of a coalition with Norfolk and Virginia Beach known as the Hampton Roads Tour and Travel Committee. The three-city committee has planned a three-day program for professional tour operators from across the nation and Canada.
The excursion, called ``Catch a Wave,'' will be designed to entice motor coach group tours to the region. Portsmouth activities will include a horse-drawn trolley ride through Olde Towne and visits to the Children's Museum and the Naval Shipyard Museum. The visitors also will ride the pedestrian ferry across the river and take the Carrie B tour on the Elizabeth River.
Judging from the number of tour buses we've seen parked around Downtown Portsmouth, the promotions to tour operators over the past several years really is paying off.
The first year he was employed by the city, Toler said he decided to zero in on the bus tours because he felt it was where he could get the quickest payoff for his efforts. Obviously, he knew what he was doing.
Toler has put Portsmouth in the middle of tourism efforts in Virginia. In mid-September, he and his staff will host a statewide meeting of the Virginia Association of Convention and Tourist Bureaus. That's a good group to get into town because their impression of Portsmouth could influence others.
And anybody who spends three days in town is bound to go away with a new idea of what Portsmouth has to offer.
The Virginia Waterfront International Arts Festival will be another fine way to promote the entire region - and add one more reason for people to visit Portsmouth. by CNB