November 9, 2006
Bahamas appoints a director of romance
Does this sound like a fun job or what? From Travel Weekly:
The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism appointed Freda Madrisotti as director of romance. Her position, which the BMT said is the first of its kind within a tourism office in the Caribbean, will provide a link between hotels, resorts, facilities, vendors and suppliers to ensure seamless and stress-free planning for any romantic occasion. From liaising with the Bahamas Bridal Association and affiliated wedding coordinators to staying current with romance-specific hotel packages in the Bahamas, Madrisotti will serve as the gatekeeper to all things romantic.
This is interesting to me because although the "director of romance" has a job facilitating respectable love -- the wedding on the beach kind -- behind the scenes, the men of the Bahamas, the Caribbean and elsewhere in the world are directing their own freelance romances all the time.
Also, that a country would have a director of romance speaks to the ever-more explicit tie-in between sun, sand and sex in the marketing of the tropics as a destination.
From 
Romance on the Road:
... Most governments (as well as their citizens) in the developing world come to accept sex tourism as a valuable genesis of airline and hotel receipts.In the Caribbean, for example, government-paid advertising to foster tourism, highlighting sun, sea, sand and friendly locals, indirectly promotes sex tourism as well, given the tight weave of sex and travel in the tropics. And those amiable locals include taxi drivers, waiters and Jet-Ski rental agents willing to befriend tourist women.
A scholarly paper by Beverley Mullings, "Fantasy Tours: Exploring the Global Consumption of Caribbean Sex Tourisms,” further explores this topic (found in the book New Forms of Consumption
- posted by jbelliveau at 9:46 AM in Love, Sex, Romance and Travel
