FEATURE
MEET A FRIEND OF BARBADOS
SIR CLIFF RICHARD BARBADOS SUMMER HOLIDAY
By Keith Miller
Above: A section of the Barbados exhibit at the 2012 Chelsea Flower Show in London Left: Sir Cliff Richard fielding questions from the press. Below: The Barbados contingent.
henever the Barbados Horticultural Society exhibits at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show it is always a wonderful opportunity to promote the country. But this year, the team decided to really make the most of this excellent PR event by highlighting the island as a tourism destination. Once that decision had been made, and given that the show takes place in the UK in late May, it was almost a natural progression to work with the theme of a ‘Summer Holiday’. Mention those two words to people of a certain generation, British especially, and chances are high that they will instantly start singing: “We’re all going on a summer holiday: no more working for a week or two. Fun and laughter on our summer holiday; no more worries for me or you, for a week or two. We're going where the sun shines brightly, we're going where the sea is blue. We've all seen it on the movies, now let's see if it's true.” That catchy ‘Summer Holiday’ song, with those appealing lyrics that so suit a trip to Barbados, was first made famous by the acclaimed British entertainer Sir Cliff Richard. Sir Cliff owns a beautiful home in Barbados and he is also a keen gardener. That combination was enough to encourage the team members to be bold enough to ask Sir Cliff if he would be willing to represent Barbados at the Chelsea Flower Show. Being the gentleman that he is, Sir Cliff kindly agreed. He made a special appearance on behalf of Barbados during the show’s opening day, which is reserved for select members of the media, invited celebrity guests and the Queen. With an impressive record of 123 hit singles spanning over twenty years in the charts, Sir Cliff Richard is indisputably Britain’s all-time, greatest hit-maker. In addition, throughout his illustrious career he has worked tirelessly for a range of charities. In short, Sir Cliff Richard is highly respected and greatly admired by the British public and he is extremely popular with the media. To his enormous credit, Sir Cliff demonstrated that he is a true friend of Barbados by diligently
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Ins & Outs of Barbados
working for two straight hours doing interviews, answering questions about the island and posing for photos in front of the BHS exhibit. Without pausing for any breaks, he charmed and entertained a steady stream of representatives of the media, as Barbados Summer Holiday became buzz words for the BBC, ITV, Channel Seven TV from Australia, Germany’s ZDF TV, various UK regional radio stations, newspapers, magazines and a host of society photographers. Barbados and Sir Cliff were later featured on the BBC News at 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm, as well as a special spotlight on Alan Titchmarsh’s Chelsea Flower Show BBC special at 7:30 pm, with an estimated TV audience of 2.2 million viewers. More coverage followed on ITV television, as well as other good exposure via newspapers and the Internet. The Barbados Horticultural Society’s stunningly beautiful ‘Summer Holiday’ floral exhibit had won a creditable Silver Gilt Medal. Sir Cliff Richard had captured the hearts and attention of the British media. Barbados had gained all the headlines.