TOURISM Minister Randall Mitchell on Friday lamented that the Carnival band launch season as he envisaged it, will not materialise this year.
Speaking at Tribe Family of Bands’ SUNSETWKN (Sunset Weekend) launch along Ariapita Avenue, where soca king Machel Montano was given the key to the city; Mitchell said he wants to convert Ariapita Avenue into a party strip.
This he said will allow for an entire month of weekend long band launches which will attract regional and international tourists outside of the Carnival while capturing the essence of Carnival and culture of TT.
“Culture in the tourism sector is the greatest export and we recognise that as a government. This is a part of the vision of the Ministry of Tourism. Dean (Akin CEO of Tribe Family of Bands) is right, Carnival is our greatest tourism product. But the culture of TT is our greatest cultural and tourism export. So why stop at carnival (season)?”
He said outside of Carnival there are those who have an insatiable appetite for the culture of the country. All of the Caribbean enjoys TT culture, he said, and that should be well marketed.
“There are many other months in the calendar. We may have a carnival in July or we should have a carnival or an event every other month. This was a vision of the Ministry of Tourism. We really wanted a band launch season. We wanted a very organised and packaged season where people who cannot come for Carnival, either because they could not get a flight or they could not get a hotel room, to be able to come and experience our culture during the band launch season which is a very important part of our calendar. And we didn't get in last season. We weren't able to plan it in time.”
[caption id="attachment_966427" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Members of the Bentley Potter School of Dance/Cascade Festival Ballet presentation during the traditional carnival mas alongside elments of Tribe carnival launch on Friday at Ariapita Avenue, Port of Spain. - PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB[/caption]
He added that if weekends like SUNSETWKN is executed well and adopted by other bands it will ensure increased tourism, creating jobs for cultural workers. The enhancement of Ariapita Avenue, he said, is in keeping with the plans to revitalise Port of Spain to transform the Avenue into the entertainment capital of the Caribbean.
“That is another plan at the ministry, presently we have a project ongoing the enhancement of Ariapita Avenue, where we will put some major arch ways. We will develop the parks and ensure that the sidewalks and trees are planted etc. We will work together with the community because one of the most important things for the community is the safety and security and we will do that as we continue to develop the city of Port of Spain.”
In his address, creative director at Tribe, Valmiki Maharaj said the mind of a creative person amplifies and absorbs which makes the creators dreams that leads to reality such as the SUNSETWKN. He told those gathered, including Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi and Port of S
