New surveys have been sent out by the Global Equestrian Group, owners of the newly-named Wellington International – home to the Winter Equestrian Festival – to get the input of the equestrian community as the company moves forward with its long-term plan of improvements.
“We sent out surveys last week and we will send out surveys every year to see if we are making progress,” said Anders Bjørnstrup, commercial director. “One for the riders, the grooms, horse owners, vendors, sponsors… we have a lot of questions about how they feel about the cleanliness, the footing, and so on. We also have blanks for people to put in their own comments.”
Anders expects the results to be in by Friday and based on the information they convey, the company will prioritise the improvements for the coming year. “You may not see it, but we have already spent millions on upgrading the facility,” said Anders. “The first thing we did was listen to the riders and put in new footing and changes to the rings.”
Other upgrades that were requested and had been planned for this season, were delayed due to the global pandemic.
“We had ordered a new wifi system – and a new sound system,” said Andres. “But there have been delays due to covid and the wifi is not being delivered until July. People will see changes when they come back for the next Winter Equestrian Festival. They will see changes every year as we cannot transform the showgrounds overnight, but we are committed to a long-term strategy of improvements.”
One significant change this season came with the rebranding of the venue – changing the name from Palm Beach International Equestrian Center to Wellington International.
“People were thrilled with the new name,” Anders said. “They had felt that they were in Wellington – not Palm Beach – and that is why we changed it. It’s more modern and the whole rebranding has been well received.” Not least, by the Village of Wellington itself.
“I have met with the Mayor,” said Anders. “And she is very supportive of what we are trying to do with the investment we are committed to putting into the area.”
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