Talma and Tuach named as sport ambassadors

Although they have already been flying the Barbados flag on their own for a number of years, Brian ‘deAction Man’ Talma and Chelsea Tuach will now be doing so in an official capacity after being named sport ambassadors by the Barbados Tourism Marketing Incorporated (BTMI). 

 

In a meeting of sorts between the old and the new, as both are talented surfers from different eras, the pair was given their titles by Senior Director of Support Services at the BTMI, Neville Boxhill, during a media briefing held at the organisation’s headquarters this week.

 

The partnership, which is for the one year in the first instance and expected to cultivate an ongoing relationship, will see both athletes using official branding at local and international events, as well as partnering with the BTMI for various events. 

 

Noting that surfing represents a very important niche for Barbados, Boxhill stated that the move is one that is strategically planned towards improving the island’s profile internationally. 

 

“One of the methodologies the BTMI has been using in order to push Barbados and to broaden awareness of Barbados and our product globally in order to increase our exposure, has been to partner with icons, with top Barbados sportspersons, in order to reach out to their following, and it gives us extreme pleasure to announce that we have entered into a sponsorship and ambassadorial programme, starting with Brian ‘de Action man’ Talma and Chelsea Tuach, who will be sporting ambassadors for us in the surfing niche,” he said.

 

Going on to say that Tuach and Talma are just the first decided on, Boxhill added that the BTMI is open to partnerships with athletes across all disciplines. 

 

“We are looking at other sports. There is another announcement that will be coming shortly and we are interested in working with Barbadians in any sporting field where we feel that their international exposure will lend itself to our overall efforts, or where that particular niche that they are featured in works well with us,” he said.

 

Both surfers are excited by the prospects of the partnership and Talma, who also engages in windsurfing, kite-surfing and paddle surfing, has a few franchises under his portfolio inclusive of the Beach Culture World Tour, Last Waterman Standing, Organic Tourism and the ever-popular Waterman Festival. He said that he is pleased about the appointment, noting that it can only help to aid in his promotion of the island. 

 

“When I go to events, we have a connection so we can double-up our resources and the branding for Barbados, so wherever I go, I am directly related to Barbados more-so now. Before, everybody knew I was from Barbados, but now with the branding and working with their offices around the world, we will get more impact,” Talma said.

 

Tuach, who has been making waves on the international scene, stated that she believes  Barbados only stands to benefit from the arrangement. 

 

“I think Barbados is a surfing paradise and I’m really looking forward to this partnership because right now I’m the first person from the Caribbean on a world tour and I get so many questions about Barbados. What is Barbados like? When are we going to bring an international surfing event to Barbados? Because we have world-class waves. Soup Bowl is one of Kelly Slater’s favourite waves in the world and he is an 11-time world champ. Every time I go somewhere, they ask me about the waves, they ask me to bring an event to Barbados because people want to see Barbados. They want to come and visit, and once we get one international event here and we get over 100 surfers coming down posting about Barbados and get that image of Barbados out there, I think our sports tourism product will grow,” Tuach said.