Reporter Tom Curphey spoke to DEFA and Enterprise Ministers, Former Chair of the British Guild of Travel Writers and Chair of Business Isle of Man at the launch of the new Manx Menu at Cycle 360 to discuss the competition and find out why more than 50 top travel writers are on the Isle of Man.
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00:00 Well there's quite a lot going on tonight. We've got on the island arrived today
00:05 actually a group about 50 or 60 from the British Guild of Travel Writers that
00:09 have their AGM on the island which is fantastic. So they're here for most of
00:13 the week. It's a great opportunity for them to see the island, see what we
00:17 have to offer which is really exciting. We have our island plan, we have our
00:23 visitor economy and our visitor plan to, our strategy to grow our sort of numbers
00:30 to half a million visitors by 2032. So these guys can go away with a really
00:35 positive view of the island and what we have to offer including our fantastic
00:39 food. That's a great thing because then lots of people want to come to the
00:41 island, they're very outstoresy, they love food so I think that's a really
00:45 positive thing. So they're here and we've got today, we're launching our Manx menu
00:49 which is a competition. I think there's over 100 businesses taking part in that.
00:54 A competition for businesses and hospitality to use our Manx produce and produce
01:00 exciting dishes. People can vote on those. So again great opportunity for
01:04 people on the island to sort of hear about and taste all the fantastic things
01:08 we produce, our farmers, our fishermen, our growers and to really sort of showcase our hospitality sector.
01:16 For locals but also as I say for visitors as well.
01:19 Stuart Render, former joint chair of the British Guild of Travel Writers.
01:24 And tell me what you guys are doing on the Isle of Man.
01:26 Well we're delighted to be on the Isle of Man. We're delighted to have been invited by Visit Isle of Man.
01:32 We brought some 50 or so photographers, travel writers, broadcasters and
01:37 bloggers to find out more about the many stories that the island has to offer.
01:42 I've been coming to the island here for many years. I know how wonderful it is
01:47 but I think it's one of the hidden gems of tourism and what I hope that our
01:51 members are going to do when they write and they blog and they broadcast and
01:55 they photograph the island over these few days we're here is to encourage
01:58 more and more people to come over and discover why the Isle of Man is a great
02:02 place for a holiday.
02:03 I think the exposure is really important and you know I say that as someone who came here on holiday,
02:08 fell in love with the island and my sister moved here first, I've moved here,
02:12 my parents still you know making their way slowly but surely but I think
02:17 you're getting that exposure and finding out about somewhere is probably the
02:19 first step. So this is a really exciting time as Tim said we've got
02:24 the Manx Menu event which is a real really exciting concept to showcase Isle of Man
02:28 food and just the versatility of it and then the other piece that we've got
02:33 going on is the Island Kitchen Cookbook, this third edition and being launched
02:36 with another raft of exciting recipes that probably will never look as good
02:40 when I cook them as they do on the pages but you know the taste is where it's at
02:44 and actually you really get to see just the benefit of having that low food
02:48 miles, fresh produce you know really made with love and I think you just can't beat it.
02:53 They have travelled a lot, they've been places, they've seen everywhere and yet the
02:57 Isle of Man is something a little bit special. They're not quite sure what it
03:00 is, it's not the UK, it's a Crown Dependency or whatever the description is
03:05 and I think that makes it somewhere a little bit different, it's like going to
03:08 the Channel Islands but in the Isle of Man you've got the trains, you've got the
03:12 trams, you've got the TT, you've got the scenery, you've got the stories, you've
03:16 got the distilleries, you've got so many different elements that will come
03:20 together. Travel writers are very very good at crafting stories out of what
03:24 they find and I think what we're going to see coming out of this visit is a
03:28 tremendous number of stories that as I say hopefully will encourage more and
03:31 more people to consider the Isle of Man as a place for their holiday.
03:34 I think you know January and February are often difficult months in the
03:38 hospitality trade so yes in January they're like maybe a little bit of a
03:41 rest after the Christmas kind of madness if you like and a new year and but
03:45 certainly you know it's a tough time so when there's events going on and
03:48 activity throughout February and March it's really important because you know
03:52 it keeps people employed which is important for us and but also an
03:57 event like this allows them to be more creative really and put on dishes that
04:01 maybe they hadn't thought of before but very much focused on local products.
04:05 It's all about the Isle of Man, it's all about the Manx menu and so absolutely
04:09 I think we've had great support so far, one of the greatest ever I would say and this is only
04:14 year one so hopefully we'll see this coming forward in future years as well.
04:17 I thought I was about to ask is this something you can see carrying on, is
04:20 this something you want to see in the future all the time now?
04:22 Absolutely I can see it carrying on. I think from this, what I've seen from the
04:27 actual entries is that we've literally got a brand new cocktail menu been kind
04:33 of created for this with some wonderful names you know so I'm not gonna give any
04:36 away but people really need to get out there and support these
04:40 businesses, sample those cocktails, look at all those lovely dishes that have
04:43 been put on for them now, created from Manx products and so it's definitely a
04:46 time to kind of you know put your hand in your pocket and get out there and
04:50 spend some money in hospitality.