The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Junkanoo Festival Commission’s chairman (BNFC) yesterday said it expects to begin its international marketing campaign for next year’s event by early fall 2015, with the low ratio of foreign to local participants at the inaugural event due to a late promotional push.

Paul Major said the Commission was only able to begin its international marketing efforts in March, when it finally settled on, and secured, a headliner for the event.

“When you go advertising internationally you have to say what you are selling. You can’t just say come to the Bahamas,” Mr Major said.

“Because we didn’t get our marking machine going until March it was just too late. People plan their vacations well in advance. We’re trying now to get some of those critical things nailed down and go to the market by at least early fall to be able to tell people what we are selling and get them to make plans to come to the Bahamas.”

Mr Major said that as early as this week the Commission could meet with government to go through issues such as confirming the dates for next year’s events in New Providence and Grand Bahama. The Commission is proposing  April 15-16 for the Grand Bahama kick-off weekend, and May 5-7 for the finale in Nassau.

“In terms of tourists we only  estimated about 900 tourists here for the event. It’s no incredible number that anyone has to challenge. We estimated 900 that participated in and around Carnival or visited the village,” Mr Major said.

“The estimated expenditure derived from that group in Nassau was $1.7 million, and in Grand Bahama it was greater at $2.8 million because we know for a fact that they had a ship there where I think there were 1,200 passengers and about another 200-300 crew, all of which were bused to the festival village.”

Mr Major said securing international talent was key to attracting tourists to the event. “The more forward planning you do there, the better rates you get. We have got some ideas and we’re trying to compile that list of local and international talent that are must haves so that we can nail them down in the calendar,” he added:

“We’re trying to have an international event that will bring revenue to the country, and to highlight and tout a name that is not known in the international market is not likely to bring international patrons.

“Whereas our first objective was to create a festival that has local buying and a lot of local talent, which we accomplished. We also know that if we want to expand that 115,000 people - probably upward of 95,000 were Bahamians - for us to change that ratio it is necessary for us to have quality entertainment talent.”