MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

?Promoting today's Falklands is vital'

THE Falkland Islands' stand was a popular place to be at this year's Royal Show at Stoneleigh.

The stand, manned by Sukey Cameron and Melissa McKinley from the Falkland Islands Government's London office, and Henry Boughton, who has a house at Hill Cove, featured information boards and a plasma screen showing images of the Islands.

A number of brochures were also distributed, including London-issued Falkland Focus, tourism brochures (including the Penguin News Visitor's Guide), agricultural fact sheets and reports, and the Falkland Islands Association Newsletter. Children were treated to bookmarks, pencils, pens and note pads and badges.

So, what was the most frequently asked question put to the Falklands team? Sukey said it was "Are you from there?"

She commented, "I think people were impressed that we all had strong links to the Islands and weren't just a PR company employed by FIG to promote them, as it were. This question then led on to others: weather, living there, wildlife, economy, agriculture, products and tourist questions." Sukey said people's impressions of the Falklands were, "positive over all," adding, "...the weather still tends to get a bad press but otherwise people were asking intelligent questions and seemed to be genuinely interested."

One of the more recognisable visitors to the stand was the Duke of Gloucester who Sukey said was, "...very interested and very knowledgeable, especially on the history"; being a farmer, "he was particularly interested in that side of things."

Sukey feels it is "vitally important" the Falklands attends events like the Royal Show "in order to promote the Islands ?today'."

She commented, "We can reach a large number of people in a relatively short time and I am a strong believer that personal contact is the best way to get our messages across as that makes a real impression on people. "The Royal is especially beneficial because we can use the ?agricultural hook'."

She said the show attracts a large amount of visitors, many school groups and a number of people who are, "...the sort of people who would choose the Islands as a holiday destination. "

She said it is a good "recruiting ground" for tourists and the Falklands stand received many enquiries: "Some people were actually under the impression we were there just to promote tourism in fact."

She is hopeful that some of those who visited the stand will have been tempted to plan a holiday in the Falklands - "they were certainly enthusiastic."

She added that a number of visitors to the stand had already visited the Islands by cruise ship, "...so we were promoting the land-based destinations to them in the hope that they would return." (PN)