Ticket sales for Cayman Cookout 2012 are zooming ahead of 2011 in pace and quantity sold to date.
Tami Corday, director of meetings and special events at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, confirmed the pace of ticket was ‘unbelievable’.
“We have continually seen the pace increase over the last four years but this is a remarkable increase which we are very excited about,” she said. “We also want to make sure that local guests are taking the opportunity to purchase. We have a lot of repeat guests who purchase as soon as things go on sale but this is a very special event for everybody.”
Tickets have been sold in the United States, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico, a testament to the growing reach of the event.
Preparations are going well, Ms. Corday said.
“The buzz is getting bigger and bigger. We are starting to hear from a lot of the talent, who are getting really excited,” she said. “Toes and fingers are getting frozen up in the north and they are getting excited looking at pictures of the Caribbean.”
Winemakers and chefs are Tweeting on the event’s Twitter account about their plans, for example.
Kicking off
Ms. Corday noted that the official kick-off, the Barefoot BBQ taking place at Tiki Beach on Friday, 13 January at 7pm, was one that traditionally hit capacity early.
“Last year that was a week before the event and we had people begging to be able to attend all the way up to the event starting,” she said. “That was one of the reasons we moved up to Tiki Beach because it gives us a bigger footprint. They have been great partners to work with.
“All the talent will be there; we have four celebrity chefs cooking and there will be a lot of energy at that event,” Ms. Corday said. “It’s one to get the whole vibe from; every year after that event we run a survey and one of the things is that people say ticket prices have increased quite a bit. A lot is due to event cost but this one we brought the price down and made it more available to local guests and we have seen great response to that. We are already about 75 per cent full for that one.”
Camana Bay
Another new event this year is the Camana Bay Ultimate Dinner Party on Saturday, 14 January and all events are bringing a lot of excitement, Ms. Corday said.
“One that will really be awesome is presented by Le Crueset in Bon Vivant kitchen studio,” she said. “The chef of Moet et Chandon is presenting the meal and what is cool about that is that they take a completely different approach to menu creation. They start with Moet et Chandon champagnes and then pick the menu to go with it. Anyone attending that event can join the reception and dessert party on the Crescent until 1am. It is a really cool event.”
The cookout runs over the weekend of Friday, 13 January through Sunday, 15 January and features demonstrations, tastings, talks and interactions with chefs and sommeliers.
“Seven items are already sold out,” confirmed marketing co-ordinator Nancy Harrison of The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. “And because the Gala Dinner is sold out it means that our Master Chef Package is sold out, which is the first time any of our packages have done so in four years. It’s no surprise that Anthony Bourdain and Richard Blaise’s lunches have sold out also.”
The furthest travellers so far are from Calgary (7,243 miles), London (4,601) and Rio de Janeiro (3,913. Gross dollar sales to date for 2012 have exceeded 2011 by 11 per cent and total sales by 24 per cent. Gross sales are 55 per cent ahead of 2011 at the same point on a year vs year comparison and gross numbers are doubled at this stage compared to 2011.
So far, the United States has accounted for 77 per cent of sales, with tickets sold in 27 states, Grand Cayman 17 per cent, Canada 3 per cent and 1 per cent in Brazil, Puerto Rico and the UK.
Sold out events
Friday, 13 January
American Beef, French Style, Bourdain Attitude; Behind the Scenes Lunch at Blue; 100 Points Verite
Saturday, 14 January
Behind the Scenes Lunch at Blue; Blaising the Top Chef Trail; The Original Super Tuscan
Sunday, 15 January
Gala Dinner in Blue
Full information is on http://www.caymanislands.ky/cayman_cookout/default.aspx
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