BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – The St. Kitts-Nevis government says it will be undertaking a comprehensive economic impact assessment of the annual music festival to determine whether changes are necessary to ensure its future sustainability.
The Ministry of Tourism said that following the staging of the 26th edition of the St. Kitts Music Festival on Sunday, the assessment will also include an in-depth look at the current three-night model.
Tourism Minister, who has eith responsibility for the festival, Marsha Henderson, said the assessment is critically needed if the product is to remain competitive and attractive to patrons, given the different other festivities in neighbouring islands.
“The festivals in the region have different models and so for us to be able to compete we have to look to see whether this model is in fact sustainable.
“If you look at the amounts we spend on the music festival it’s almost like EC$0 million (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) and so we need to see if this is sustainable when we consider the economic impact assessment and how we can continue to change the model to make sure that the festival is sustainable as well,” Henderson said.
The authorities hope that the assessment will be completed by October this year.
“The economic impact assessment, all of the other meetings that we are going to do, we intend to do some retreat and observations of other festivals and see how we can tweak ours to make sure that this festival is sustainable,” Henderson added.
The assessment will be led by Crest Analytics, working alongside the relevant stakeholders and Henderson also assured that public feedback will play an important role in their decision-making as well.
She said irrespective of the outcome of the planned assessment, the St. Kitts Music Festival remains an important investment for the Federation, and one that has always accomplished what it was established to do—market the destination to the world.
“Last year for example, we received so much publicity out of the music festival, not just from the artistes but also from the media houses, people got to know about St. Kitts from all the good reviews,” she said, noting that the patrons who visit for the music festival are treated to the full cultural experience that the destination is renowned for.
Over the 26 years since it was established, the St. Kitts Music Festival has evolved from an event that features nightly concerts to a spectacular experience that offers patrons an opportunity to venture deeper into the rich culture of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“I want to thank those who continue to partner with us. It’s important because we can’t bring people to our destination and expect them to just stay in their beds and show up in the night for the music festival.
“We have been encouraging people not just to come for those nights, but come early and experience St. Kitts, experience Nevis, and if they are going to come there must be something for them to do.
“So these partnerships with private promoters we value them. We think it adds to the experience, the tourism product and it adds to the music festival product itself,” she said noting that fringe events also help to stimulate economic activity and generate employment opportunities for locals.
