By: Martin George
Single greatest tourism event
How on earth could the powers-that-be in the THA and the TDC and whatever State apparatus is responsible for tourism, be so careless and reckless as to allow the single greatest tourism event in Tobago to just unceremoniously be dumped and scrapped with such a hogwash of an excuse, which tends to insult the intelligence of right- thinking people? What on earth was going on in their minds? What were they trying to do except trying to put the last nail in the coffin of Tobago tourism? Tobago has always had a shaky and unsettled tourism product, and the TDC, Tidco and whatever manifestations of our tourism bodies have all been dismal and abysmal failures in producing any sustainable tourism in Tobago.
The one ray of light and hope which has emerged, and which incidentally has had very little to do with the efforts of the TDC and the THA, has been the Plymouth/Tobago Jazz Festival. Despite starting so late out of the blocks in the Jazz Festival stakes and despite coming up against established regional heavyweights in the business—such as the St Lucia Jazz Festival and the Barbados Jazz Festival—the Tobago Jazz Festival quickly outstripped and outshone them all and quickly established itself as the pre-eminent jazz festival in the region.
Tobagonians benefit
Forbes magazine has described it as one of the top ten events on the planet, and it has received rave reviews in dozens of other publications and international media. People plan for up to a year in advance for the event. There are many, who do not come to T&T for Christmas, Carnival or Easter, but for sure, they come down for Tobago Jazz.
It is the one time of the year in Tobago when all hotel rooms, guest houses, apartments, villas, car rentals, restaurants, gift shops, dive shops, tour operators are all booked to capacity. It is the single best business week in the entire calendar for all of Tobago. Each and every Tobagonian and his brother get a chance to make a dollar and earn some extra revenue, while providing goods and services to the thousands of visitors to the island. And the THA will just let this slip through its fingers, just let this go? Did they for a minute ever consider the small people and citizens in Tobago, who depend on this jazz festival to make an extra dollar?
Neighbours laughing
Other Caribbean islands, so envious of the momentous impact of Tobago Jazz Festival and its high international rating, must be laughing themselves silly and grinning once again at the monumental stupidity of Trinbagonians to let such a festival go. They must be laughing all the way to the bank, and counting just how much they are going to profit from our decision to not have a jazz festival this year. A jazz festival, when properly organised and executed, has the potential to build up a strong band of loyal followers who look forward to your annual event. They will always support you and attend, no matter what. People buy plane tickets, pay for accommodation and rental cars months in advance.
Some would have applied for their annual vacation, too, as many people make a week of it and stay a few extra days in Tobago to also enjoy the sun, sea, sand and fun. What happens to these people, now that you so recklessly and callously announce, mere weeks before the event, that there is no jazz festival this year? Who is going to refund them their money for accommodation or plane tickets, and would they get a full refund? Who gives them back the wasted vacation days they now have on their hands, with no jazz festival to go to? The entire handling of this makes T&T once again look like a bunch of bumbling, fumbling, stumbling Third World idiots.
Who is to blame?
So who is to blame? Is it CL Communications? Is it the TDC? Is it the THA? Surely, among these three, some levels of responsibility must lie and not for one minute do people buy into the rubbish of an excuse about global financial crisis as the reason for the cancellation of the event. If that were true, then we should also cancel Carnival in Trinidad. Most overseas visitors who were planning to come for Tobago Jazz would have already booked their tickets, paid for accommodation and rental cars already, some of them since last year. Also, a significant proportion of the fan base is homegrown right here in T&T, so don’t give us any crap about global financial crisis.
If it is that CL pulled out as a major sponsor, and money to stage the event was an issue, then there is talk that two other sponsors had stepped forward, and even if they had not, the THA had every right to step into the breach and make sure that under no circumstances whatsoever should the Jazz Festival be cancelled for lack of funding. International artistes are also aware of the current times and know that they have to reduce their demands and fees so we don’t necessarily have to pay a tonload of money to get them here. We could negotiate, re-negotiate, cut deals with them to get them here. That’s the world of show business. Why couldn’t we do it? The THA, more than any other, must know what this festival means to Tobagonians and to the thousands of jazz fans who descend upon the island for the event.
But no; between the stumbling, bumbling and fumbling, they’ve all managed to drop the ball and lose the most significant tourism event in Tobago. What, then, is the THA doing with the three billion dollars it gets every year if it could not find a way to save the Tobago Jazz Festival? Not only have our authorities managed to now kill Jazz in Tobago, but they are, most surely, also killing all tourism in Tobago, and maybe, just maybe, it is that murder most foul is the tourism master plan for Tobago.
