ANTIGUA & BARBUDA HOTELS & TOURISM ASSOCIATION

OVER two hundred runners will converge on the city of St. John’s and its environs on Wednesday when the 4th edition of the annual “Cruise to Run” initiative reaches Antigua. 

The venture an initiative of Jerry and Jody Freisen a Canadian couple based in Grimsby Ontario will see the donation of over 200 books to the national library presented as gifts to the nation by each runner. The books will be handed over to education officials on Wednesday 27th January during a short ceremony at the Heritage Quay bandstand at 8 am. 

Mr. Cordova Simon, President of the Hurricane Power Athletics Club; main organizers of the event, will then lead the delegation through the streets of St. John’s to the King George V grounds in preparation for the 18 kilometer run to Fort Barrington at Deep Bay. Along the pre-decorated route students are expected to greet and cheer-on the runners as the make their way to their final stop. 

According to Mr. Freisen, “The mere thought of a cruise-ship vacation can make a runner go stir-crazy. The idea of sitting idle on a ship for days, with brief forays ashore focusing on shopping at tourist traps is enough to make any runner jump ship and book a different type of holiday, and the Cruise to Initiative is designed with runners in mind.” 

Tourism Minister the Hon. John Maginley remarks, “Antigua and Barbuda as one of the leading tourism destinations in the Caribbean must reposition itself and introduce new, innovative ways to increase our visitor profile and appeal in the international tourist market if we are going to maintain our share in the global tourism market.” 

Furthermore the minister highlighted that, “The Cruise to Run initiative is one such innovative and novel way of bringing greater awareness to the beauty and charm of our country and its people.” 

The Cruise to run initiative has seen a collaboration of numerous tourism partners inclusive of the Ministry of Tourism, the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, Antigua Pier Group Ltd, Hurricane Power Athletics Club and SUBWAY; “EAT FRESH”.