Web Posted - Tue Sep 23 2003

TOP Barbadian professional world-ranked windsurfer Brian ‘deAction Man’ Talma continues to bring great recognition to his country as he travels around the world to compete.

According to Talma, along with competing he focuses on promoting his homeland as a tourist destination and entices visitors to come and experience the island for themselves. Talma has been competing on the Professional Windsurfing Association’s (PWA) world tour circuit for the past 15 years and during this time he’s honed his marketing skills and matured into a well rounded “ambassador” for his country. Today, Talma is highly respected on the PWA world tour circuit as one of the great international sports personalities associated with windsurflng and beach culture. Very much in demand on the PWA circuit, Talma is currently enjoying an extremely successful year and is concentrating on making the transition from competitive touring to promotional tours. Receiving invitations to appear at promotional events all over the world, Talma has already visited Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Fuerta Ventura and Gran Canaria this year, seriously stepping up his Barbados and windsurfing marketing efforts.

He says his ‘deAction’ 2003 tour is a combination of PWA competitions and appearances at international events, where he promotes Barbados, windsurfing and his sponsors. His local sponsor Silver Rock Resort has earned much exposure from his international appearances, while his international sponsors, Virgin Atlantic Airways; Chiemsee, the top German beach clothier, and F2 Boards continue to support and encourage his promotional efforts.

One of Talma’s many marketing tools is his Barbados ‘deAction’ map, which highlights hotels geared to beach sports tourism, along with restaurants, places to go, things to do and see, as well as other island highlights. His map targets the adventurous, with a slant towards ocean extreme sports (windsurfing, kitesurfing and surfing) enthusiasts.

Talma has released another CD this year – a continuation of his effort to promote beach culture through music. In his newest work he conceived and wrote lyrics that express a feeling of the beach culture scene in a commentary style set to reggae and ska.

His work currently enjoys international airplay and distribution and sponsor Virgin Atlantic is tied directly to his CD outputs with promotions that award winners a free trip to Barbados with a one week stay at Silver Rock Resort. This year he has designed three new T-shirts in conjunction with local firm 809 Designs, which were produced by his clothier sponsor, Chiemsee. The shirts depict Bajan beach culture and promote the island through windsurfing, surfing and kitesurfing.

His appearances include performing his music and interacting with the audience. “My overall objective is to promote Barbados and Bajan beach culture utilising a complete package that meshes my ideas with local cultural symbols, such as blowing the conch,” Talma stated.

Compliments of the Barbados Advocate

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