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Artículo sobre el festival de reggae sunsplash
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BRINGING CULTURE INTO TOURISM: FESTIVAL TOURISM AND REGGAE SUNSPLASH INJAMAICAAuthor(s): Keith NurseSource: Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 51, No. 1, Tourism in the Caribbean (MARCH 2002),pp. 127-143Published by: Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the West IndiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27865264 .Accessed: 31/08/2011 20:02
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Social and Economic Studies 51:1 (2002) ISSN: 0037-7651
BRINGING CULTURE INTO TOURISM:
FESTIVAL TOURISM AND REGGAE
SUNSPLASH IN JAMAICA
Keith Nurse
ABSTRACT
The economic contribution of the cultural or entertainment industries to tourism
is largely undervalued in Caribbean development policy. This article confronts this lacuna and gives some insight into the costs and benefits of festival tour
ism. The article argues that festival tourism is an efficacious strategy given that
the Caribbean enjoys a healthy reputation in live entertainment, the perfor mance arts and the music industry. The case of Jamaica and Reggae Sunsplash is used to illustrate how festivals make a healthy return on investment in terms
of arrivals, occupancy rates, visitor expenditures, international media exposure and destination loyalty from cultural tourists. The socio-economic and political
challenges of festival management are also discussed. The article calls for the " culturalization
" of tourism and recommends festival tourism as an effective
means to enhance competitiveness in Caribbean tourism as well as bolster
cultural identity and confidence.
Introduction
The synergy between tourism and the cultural industries is largely under-researched in the Caribbean. This state of affairs can be ex
plained by the fact that the cultural industries have traditionally been viewed as leisure and recreational activities and not as a com
mercially viable sector. Another problem is that the demand-pull of the cultural industries tends to be excluded if not minimised in
analyses of the tourism industry. This is in spite of the fact that
festivals throughout the region contribute in a significant way to
boost tourism arrivals, visitor expenditures and hotel occupancy rates.
127-143
1 2 8 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES
Throughout the Caribbean this aspect of the tourist industry is gaining prominence in the tourism calendar. Trinidad Carnival,
Cropover in Barbados, the Jazz Festival in St. Lucia and the Meringue festival in the Dominican Republic are prime examples. Each of these
festivals is known to have a significant impact on visitor arrivals, airlifts and hotel occupancy rates with spillover effects on local
transport (e.g. car rentals) and the food, beverage and restaurant
sectors. Actual data on the economic impact of these festivals is
largely underdeveloped. Where there is data the impact has been
considerable.
The St. Lucia Jazz Festival, which has been in operation for
eight years and has become the premier jazz festival in the region, is estimated to have visitor expenditures of US$ 7.0 million ? a
healthy return on investment by any measure given the budget of
US$1.0 million. In the week of the festival tourist arrivals jump by 8,000 and hotels have an occupancy rate of over 90%, which is higher than the peak winter tourism season. The festival also enjoys strong international media coverage from print journalist and cable broad
cast on Black Entertainment Television (BET). Festival organisers argue that the media exposure the festival enjoys aids in the niche
marketing strategy and is equivalent to the country's entire tourism budget.
Trinidad's Carnival has long been viewed as the premier fes
tival in the region. It attracts over thirty thousand visitors each
year. The earnings in terms of visitor expenditures are estimated to
be US$9.65 (see table 1 below) and the general economic impact of
the festival is estimated to be US$50-67 million. This is due to the
fact that the Trinidad carnival has an impact beyond that of festi
val tourism. The carnival has spawned an entertainment sector, which has strong export capability. The three main artforms in the
carnival, the steel pan, masquerade costumes and calypso music, have generated export markets, especially in the over seventy over
seas Caribbean carnivals in North America and Europe. Conse
quently, after the carnival festivities, many carnivalists, especially the music bands, embark upon the annual circuit of carnivals and
other events where their services are employed (Nurse 1997; 1999).
Bringing Culture Into Tourism 129
TABLE 1: ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CARIBBEAN FESTIVALS, 1998
Festival Budget Visitor Expenditures
St. Lucia Jazz US$1.0 million US$6.92 million
Trinidad Carnival US$2.0 million US$9.65 million
Cultural and Festival Tourism
An important feature of cultural tourism1 is that of events or festi
vals. The experience with festivals and other cultural events is that
they tend to create a tourism demand that is resilient and less sus
ceptible to economic downturns. Successful festivals enhance the
image of tourist destinations, aid in the rejuvenation of cities in
decline, and create new economic activities in rural or peripheral areas. Cultural tourism has emerged to be an important innova
tion and a new source for competitive advantage in the tourism
industry. Increasingly, it is being appreciated that the relationship between the tourism and cultural industries is such that cultural
industries generate demand for tourism while tourism generates additional markets and income for the cultural sector (Myerscough 1988: 91).
Appreciation of the relationship between tourism and the
cultural industries has grown with increased attention to the
economic importance of the arts. For example, a British study notes
that the contribution of the arts to the tourism economy was esti
mated to be 41% of overseas tourist spending. It is also that arts
related tourists stay 75 per cent longer and spend 64 per cent more
per trip (Myerscough 1988: 85-86). The benefits to tourism of the cultural industries have gained
in recognition on the other side of the Atlantic. In New York, it was
estimated that approximately 40 percent of overseas visitors are
cultural tourists, in what is measured to be a $2.5 billion industry
1 Cultural tourism includes a broad range of activities such as touring historical,
heritage and archaeological sites, visiting art galleries, museums and craft
exhibitions, and attending arts performances, live entertainment and festivals.
1 30 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES
(Alliance for the Arts 1997; McKinsey & Company 1997). As in the case of the UK cultural tourists who visit New York tend to stay
longer, spend more and have a keen interest in the arts, live perfor mances and festivals.
The economic contribution of festivals is also quite signifi cant. For example, in the mid-1990s, the Edinburgh Festival in Scot
land operated on a budget of ?5.0 million and generated income of ?13.4 million, approximately 70% of which came from non-festival
related activities like accommodation, travel and food (Casey et al
1996: 100). As illustrated, cultural tourism is an important direct out
come from a vibrant cultural industry sector. It is also recognized that tourists today are looking for more than just sand, sea and
surf. This is reflected in the growth of eco-tourism, adventure-tour
ism as well as festival tourism.
Festivals in Jamaica
The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), having realized the viability of
festivals in terms of filling rooms and community response has
embarked on a program of promoting festivals locally. There are a
growing number of musical and cultural festivals throughout the
island (see Table 2). These festivals promote everything from indig enous food and craft to film and music. Private promoters run most
of the festivals with assistance from the JTB in terms of external
marketing and logistical support. The main aim of the festivals is to
promote international and domestic tourism. They are also a me
dium through which the JTB demonstrates to the local population how tourism can work for their community by promoting indig enous specialty and cultural products and services.
In light of the success of the St. Lucia Jazz Festival, Jamaica has
developed three Jazz festivals: the Ocho Rios Jazz, All That Heritage and Jazz and Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues. The Air Jamaica Jazz Festival is the largest of the three festivals in terms of attendance, overseas visitors, advertisement and promotions and budget. Air
Jamaica, the national airline and main sponsor, developed the festi
val with the aim of generating overseas, diasporic, regional and
domestic tourism and branding the destination and air carrier
through media exposure. From Air Jamaica's perspective, the main
Bringing Culture Into Tourism 131
TABLE 2: CALENDAR OF MUSICAL AND CULTURAL EVENTS
MONTH FESTIVAL MONTH FESTIVAL
January Air Jamaica Jazz Festival
Accompong Maroon Festival
Rebel Salute
July Jamaica Spice Food Festival
Shrimp Festival
February Bob Marley Birthday Celebrations Ne ni Fat Tyre and Music
April Drax Hall Kite Festival
Jamaica Carnival
Trelawny Yam Festival
June Ocho Rios Jazz Festival
August Reggae Sumfest Reggae Sunsplash Jerk Pork Festival
October Mento Yard All That Heritage and Jazz Festival
November Caribbean Music Expo Jamerican Film & Music Festival
Caribbean Heritage Festival
Source: Jamaica Tourist Board, 1999.
aim of the festival is to attract new visitors to Jamaica and create awareness for the island, especially during the winter season.
During the last festival, visitor accommodation in Ocho Rios reached its peak, with approximately half of the estimated 3,500 to 4,000 rooms filled with jazz enthusiasts. According to Allan Chastenet of Air Jamaica, "cultural events such as these not only help to pro mote the island, but are also a good source of foreign exchange, since cultural tourists have a tendency to spend more.... Tourists
who visit Jamaica for the Jazz and Blues festival go out more often and visit more attractions. In terms of advertising, it is estimated that the island received television exposure worth well over US$1
million/' (Sunday Observer 1999:6). A survey conducted by the JTB (2000) estimates that 16,700
persons attended the fourth annual Jazz festival over the four days of events. Local attendance was as high as 65% suggesting that as
much as 35% of the attendees were overseas visitors. There is no
data on the exact number of visitors for the festival or their expen
1 32 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES
ditures. A survey conducted by the JTB indicates that (JTB 2000:
6-7): 60% spent five nights or more in Jamaica. 42% of the visitors (460) came on an Air Jamaica Vacations
package.
During the festival most hotels in the region were close to
full.
All-inclusive hotels estimate a boost of between 5% ? 30%.
EP hotel enjoyed an impact in the range of 40% ? 90%.
An analysis of this data suggests that approximately 1,100 visitors came for the festival and on average spent at least 5 nights. With an
average expenditure of US$100 per person per night, the foreign
exchange impact can be put conservatively at $550,000.00. There is no data to support an analysis of the impact of domestic tourism, which by all indications, appears to be very considerable. The level
of visitor expenditure is small relative to the budget of the festival, which is in excess of $750,000. The festival's main impact appears to
be in improved hotel occupancy rates and media exposure, but not
in visitor arrivals, which would benefit Air Jamaica more directly. It is no small wonder that in spite of the significant overall
benefits that have derived from the festival over the past four years that Air Jamaica has decided to postpone the 2001 festival. The
main explanation given relates to the high cost of the festival and
the relatively low returns to Air Jamaica compared to other benefi
ciaries, for example, the hoteliers and the tourism economy at large. The problem appears to be essentially one of free riding. Air
Jamaica has been calling for a higher level of sponsorship and in
vestment from the JTB as well as from other beneficiaries like the
hotel sector. In fact, it is because of the lack of hotelier sponsorship that the Air Jamaica Jazz festival was moved in its second year from Montego Bay to the James Bond Beach in Oracabesa, which is
near to Ocho Rios. The postponement of the 2001 Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival along with the continued absence of Reggae
Sunsplash leaves only two festivals that are strong tourist-pull factors on Jamaica's tourism calendar: Ocho Rios Jazz and Reggae Sumfest.
Bringing Culture Into Tourism 13 3
Reggae Sunsplash
Perhaps, the best example of people identification with the tourism product by way of heritage promotion is the devel
opment of Sunsplash, the reggae festival which attracts cer tain visitors to Jamaica for that reason and none other, to
share in the heritage of popular music which is the creation of the people of Jamaica and now deemed as natural to it as are the sun, the sand and the sea (Nettleford 1990: 9).
Reggae Sunsplash had a significant impact during its lifetime.
Although now defunct, the festival served to help promote Jamaica as a destination and provided an important showcase for reggae talent from Jamaica and abroad. It drew crowds of reggae lovers
and entertainment and media personnel from all over the world.
Reggae Sunsplash was.an institution which was not only the
forerunner to all other reggae festivals, but it accomplished great feats which proved to benefit the tourist trade" (The Gleaner, March
29, 1999). Reggae Sunsplash set a precedent for festival tourism in
the Caribbean. It also established the model for reggae concerts
locally and internationally. The first Reggae Sunsplash, which was conceived by Synergy
Productions,2 was held in the summer of 1978. The idea for creating a week-long programme of musical entertainment came as a result
of an event tourism project ?
"Singles Week" ? which had been
organized by the JTB in association with a New York based public relations firm, Peter Martin and Associates (PMA). Singles Week
was designed to attract 2,000 young upwardly mobile visitors
during the summer of 1978 to enjoy sun, sea and surf. Synergy Productions saw an opportunity for staging a reggae festival given the dearth of nightly entertainment activities at the time. Synergy
approached the JTB and PMA and from that point, a new festival
was born. The objectives that guided Synergy's production of
Reggae Sunsplash were as follows (Burke 1993:19):
Presenting Jamaica's premier reggae artistes on stage in a
first class production.
2 Reggae Sunsplash and Synergy Productions were started by Tony Johnson, Don Taylor and Ronnie Burke.
1 34 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES
Using Jamaica's music as a vehicle for developing tourism.
Reviving the dormant summer tourist season in Montego
Bay.
Providing employment to our art and craft producers by
linking tourism with our rich cultural heritage.
The first staging of Reggae Sunsplash was held on June 23,1978 in a
sports club called Jarrett Park, in the tourist resort of Montego Bay. The festival was a musical success, but a financial nightmare because of the large number of unpaid patrons. Nonetheless, the
festival got overwhelmingly positive reviews from the few inter
national journalists who were in attendance. As testimony to this, the following year as many as 120 international journalists de
scended on Jamaica for the second edition of Sunsplash. This was
also the year that Bob Marley and the Wailers along with Third
World and Toots and the Maytals made an appearance at the festi
val. The rave reviews of the journalists did much to establish the
young festival as the world's greatest reggae festival.
Synergy Productions held Sunsplash in the summer months
of July and August, which was the trough period for hoteliers be
fore the festival got started. At the outset, the festival attracted a
predominately foreign crowd. In spite of this, the festival was often
represented in a negative light due to the stereotypes that were
associated with reggae music (e.g. smoking marijuana and violence) at the time. The hoteliers and corporate community were therefore
reluctant to sponsor and or invest in the festival. Moreover, the
festival generated significant economic benefits for a large number
of actors, most of whom did not contribute to the financing of the
event.
The problem of stigmatization continued as the years went
by because of the increase in the size of the local audience. This shift
also reflected a change in Jamaican music. By the mid-1980s, the roots rock reggae associated with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff had begun to give way to the dancehall or DJ style of music
from the likes of Yellowman, Lt. Stitchie, Super Cat and Ninja Man.
Dancehall was more popular with the mass of the Jamaican popu lation. Dancehall night emerged as the premier event of the festival
achieving a peak in attendance of 40,000 in the early 1990s.
Bringing Culture Into Tourism 135
In 1980, the third year of the festival's existence Reggae
Sunsplash moved to Kingston and was staged at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Center. It was also during this time that
the JIB took an active interest in the festival. In the fourth and fifth
year, 1981 and 1982, the festival moved back to Jarrett Park, Montego
Bay. 1983 saw the festival at a new venue, the Bob Marley Perform
ing Center in Montego Bay. Jarrett Park, the former venue, had long been inadequate for what had become an internationally acclaimed
event. In 1988, with the growth in dancehall music, the festival
introduced the Sound System Clash, which did much to boost local
participation. The 14th and 15th staging of Sunsplash, 1991 and 1992, heralded the introduction of Caribbean night and World Beat night.
The year 1992 marked the final year that the festival was held
in Montego Bay. The organizers sought an alternative venue due to
the decline in sponsorship from the hotel sector. Hoteliers that had
previously offered discounted or concessionary rates to the festival
organizers (for example, for performing artists and festival staff) had begun to withdraw sponsorship when the festival became suc
cessful. Sunsplash, faced with increased cost and uncooperative hoteliers, decided to move the festival to a new location. This strat
egy backfired. Within six weeks of Reggae Sunsplash's departure a
group of tourism and banking businessmen from Montego (Summerfest Productions) pulled together a rival reggae festival
and called it Reggae Sumfest. It is noted that Montegonians "could
not afford to let the revenue that Sunsplash generated slip away from their city, particularly during the summer (the slowest of
tourist seasons for the popular MoBay)" (Meschino 1995: 14). It was at this point that Sunsplash went back to Kingston.
This move impacted negatively on the festival. In 1993 and 1994 the
festival was held at Jamworld Entertainment Center in Portmore, St. Catherine, and 1994 became the last year that Reggae Sunsplash was promoted and organized by Synergy, mainly because of finan
cial problems. The festival was sold in 1995 to Radobar Holdings and was renamed Reggae Sunsplash International. The 15th Reggae Sunsplash was held in Dover, St. Ann, which proved to be a finan
cial disaster. After another poor financial performance in 1996, the
festival was suspended in 1997. Reggae Sunsplash was re-estab
lished in 1998 with some assistance from the Ministry of Tourism.
1 36 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES
It was decided to move the festival to Ocho Rios and to shift the event to the winter season and to coincide with Bob Marley's birth
day on February 6th. The goal was to forge a collaboration with the
Bob Marley Foundation's staging of Bob Marley Week, which in
volved activities like a church service, a songwriters' workshop and symposia.
The staging of Sunsplash 20 also saw the introduction of a
Gospel Night on the closing night, which drew the largest crowd of
the festival (approximately 6,000). A relatively low turnout at
Sunsplash 20 led to another postponement. The Bob Marley Foun
dation, however, continued with its activities in 1999. In addition,
Sunsplash was upstaged by the hosting of the Bob Marley All-Star
Tribute in December 1999, which featured a pan-genre line-up of
superstars: Erykah Badu, Sheryl Crow, Lauryn Hill, Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, Sarah McLachlan, Seal, Rita Marley and Ziggy
Marley and the Melody Makers. The 'One Love' tribute concert was
broadcast on the cable network 'TnT'.
Since 1999 Reggae Sumfest has filled the void left by Sunsplash. The former has succeeded in attracting much of the same local
corporate sponsorship as its predecessor. For example, Appleton Jamaican Rum and Restaurants of Jamaica (which also sponsored
Sunsplash), franchise holders for Kentucky Fried Chicken, have been
sponsors since inception while Wray & Nephew Rum Cream joined in 1996. Other sponsors for Sumfest 2000 included VP Records,
Matterhorn, Red Stripe beer, CVM Television, The Gleaner and X
News newspapers, and radio stations like Hot 102 and Irie FM. The
festival also enjoys a partnership with the Jamaica Tourist Board
and Air Jamaica. The festival has been extended to six nights and
has introduced rhythm and blues artists to the line-up. Sumfest
has been able to draw crowds of up to 50,000 and much of the
international media for music such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, Vibe, Much Music, VH1, MTV and BBC.
Economic Impact Assessment
From 1978 to 1994, Reggae Sunsplash was managed and organized
by Synergy Productions. Thereafter, it was sold to Radobar Hold
ings Limited. Synergy Productions estimates that by the late 1980s
the festival was attracting as many as 10,000 visitors and generat
Bringing Culture Into Tourism 13 7
ing approximately US$12 million (J$66 million) in spending (Henry 1989). The injection of foreign exchange from tourists and the earn
ings from domestic tourism had a substantial impact on several actors such as vendors, artisans, artists, musicians, hotels,
guesthouses, car rental agencies and taxi operators. It is evident from the visitor arrivals that Sunsplash almost
single-handedly converted what was a trough in the tourism cal
endar to a summer season that rivalled the traditional peak season
during the winter months. In addition, it is noted that the festival
enjoyed a high percentage of repeat visitors, which had a spillover into the wider tourism economy. It can also be argued that the
festival helped to put Jamaica on the world map of tourism. The case of the Japanese is instructive. A 1994 Japanese survey of trav
ellers placed Jamaica in 9th position among preferred destinations.
The ranking of Jamaica was attributed largely to the popularity of
reggae in Japan. For example/reggae came in fourth in most popu lar images after the Pyramids of Egypt, Anne of Green Gables in
Prince Edward Island, Canada, and shopping in Hong Kong (PSI
1997). The principal data available to give some indication of the
economic impact of Sunsplash is hotel room occupancy rates. Table
3 draws a comparison between a week in February, the peak of the
tourism season, and the week of Reggae Sunsplash to evaluate the
relative impact of tourist arrivals and hotel occupancy levels in
Montego Bay. The table shows that in 1981, and for every year from
1983 until 1992, the hotel occupancy levels attributed to Sunsplash
outstripped that of a peak week in the winter tourist season. The
hotel occupation levels for Sunsplash grew progressively through out the period peaking in 1987 and again in 1992.
The data for the period 1995,1996 and 1998 does not allow for
the same level of rigor in determining the economic impact of the
festival but gives some indication of the overall effect. It is observed
that Reggae Sunsplash, although under new management (Radobar
Holdings) and at a new venue (Ocho Rios), was able to impact posi tively on hotel occupancy levels. The data for this period is not as
convincing in that it is monthly occupancy rates rather than weekly
figures. Nonetheless, it does illustrate that a month outside of the
traditional peak tourist season can enjoy high occupancy rates with
1 38 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES
a festival tourism strategy. In 1998, the festival was not held in the
usual July/August month but during February.
Table 3: Average Hotel Occupancy in Montego Bay, 1979?1994
First Week in February & Week of Reggae Sunsplash
Ist WEEK IN WEEK REGGAE YEAR FEBRUARY (%) SUNSPLASH (%)
1979 *1980
1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
*1993 *1994
75.5 77.2
45.1
69.4 72.6
70.8
60.7
68.6 79.6
67.8
59.3 59.9 46.8
48.6 52.8
57.5
45
36 52.3
66.5
75.4
78.5 74.2
82.6
82.7
77.3
73.8
76.6 74.9
85.2 71.1
45.9
Source: Jamaica Tourist Board, Annual Travel Statistics, several years * Reggae Sunsplash held in Kingston
Festival Management
Reggae Sunsplash received worldwide acclaim from the interna
tional media and this undoubtedly served to formalise reggae as an
established musical artform. The media exposure of the festival also created a strong tourism demand-pull. However, the festival ran into systemic problems like free riding with which so many other festivals are plagued. The following observations illustrates the dimension of the problem (UNCTAD1999:57):
...the economic benefits of the festival have remained
limited for both the private owner and the Jamaican economy. Although the Jamaican Tourist Board supports the market
3 In 1981 the winter season was impacted by the negative press from the 1980 election violence.
Bringing Culture Into Tourism 139
ing of Sunsplash, this is insignificant compared with many European festivals. In 1996 this event attracted up to 70 artists. The price of admission at the gate was US$420; how ever, no profit was made by the owner/organizer, and there was little value-added activity, with only one CD stall selling the product.
...the event fails to capture the value added of the tourism
package as a whole. On a five-day package holiday, for ex
ample, the airfare is from US$300 plus ground transfer costs, the hotel is US$60 per night, food and water are US$40 and souvenirs etc. cost about US$100. Out of overall expenditure
by the tourist of US$1,200 the event receives less than 10 per cent, and the Jamaican economy as a whole no more than 50
per cent.
The above analysis illustrates why the festival was so reliant on
the box office as the major source of revenue. Furthermore, for sev
eral years the organizers did not increase ticket prices.4 However, when they did, the attendance declined significantly. The several
changes of location and dates also contributed to the festival's de cline. In particular, the move from the resort area of Montego Bay to the city of Kingston impacted on the domestic tourism generated by the middle classes and also affected overseas visitors given the
city's reputation for violence.
The state of the local economy, devaluation of the dollar, lack of financial support from the state, limited corporate sponsorship and increases in artist fees resulted in the festival having an accu
mulated deficit and even owing back taxes. The emergence of a rival
reggae festival, Reggae Sumfest, which was held in Montego Bay, the first home of Reggae Sunsplash, also proved to be a great threat as both festivals were competing for the same audience, corporate
sponsorship, media attention and pool of talent. The result was
that Jamaica could not sustain two reggae festivals. Another issue that has often been raised in relation to the
management of the festival was the role of the government. Festival
organizers complain that the government's financial investment in the festival was not commensurate with the benefits to the tourism sector and the wider economy. They also argue that the demand
4 One festival goer observes that ticket prices had only increased by US$5.00 in the years 1982 to 1992 (Hickman 1992).
1 40 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES
pull and the media exposure generated by the festival had greater returns than many of the promotional and marketing strategies
employed at the JIB. The governmental sector has often countered
these arguments by criticizing the management of the festival and/ or questioning the economic claims made by the festival organiz ers. No economic impact assessment was ever conducted on the
festival and so the contribution of Sunsplash has remained un
documented. The result was that Reggae Sunsplash, through most
of its history, found little support from the governmental sector
either in terms of the provision of an adequate venue or in t?rms of overseas marketing and promotion. Festival organizers argue that
the government was able to free ride on their investment in much
the same way that the hoteliers had done.
The JTB, since the mid-1990s has paid greater attention to
festivals and events as components in the tourism strategy. The JTB
currently funds and contributes to several cultural events, for ex
ample, Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival, the Caribbean Music
Expo and the Jamerican Film and Music festival. Beyond funding, it
also provides marketing and promotional support, managerial and
technical assistance and logistical support in line with its core com
petencies. The JIB has resisted calls for it to play a more interven
tionist role, arguing for example, that its role and core competence is not that of a festival promoter and that this is best handled by the
private sector. Critics point to the beneficial contribution from pub lic sector tourism agencies in territories like St. Lucia and St. Kitts &
Nevis. These countries are much smaller than Jamaica and have a
less developed entertainment sector upon which to draw for entre
preneurship. However, the essential point is that festivals have had a difficult experience in Jamaica because of the high level of free
riding and the failure of the market to sustain private sector entre
preneur ship. There is limited data on the performance of Sumfest from a
tourism standpoint. A visitor survey has not been administered.
Consequently, there is no information on what percentage of the
audience are foreign visitors. However, anecdotal evidence and
media reports suggest that the number of foreign visitors to the
reggae festival has declined. This is partly explained by the shift
away from roots reggae toward dancehall. To counter this the
Bringing Culture Into Tourism 141
festival organizers have in recent years resorted to putting hip hop artists on the bill to boost flagging attendance and media coverage. This strategy has come in for severe criticism and has not had the desired effect. In many respects the Sumfest festival has been un
able to match the tourism pull and the media exposure that
Sunsplash had achieved in its heyday.
Conclusion
The analysis of the international and regional experience with cul
tural and festival tourism suggests that there is much scope for
growth. It also appears to be an effective means by which a country can differentiate and diversify its tourism product in the increas
ingly competitive world of global tourism, as illustrated in the case
of Trinidad Carnival and the St. Lucia Jazz Festival. This strategy calls for increased investment in the cultural industries as well as
the identification of additional synergies with the tourism sector.
In part, this goal can be achieved by a marketing focus on festival
and cultural tourism.
A sustainable festival tourism strategy must create a signifi cant pyscho-cultural impact. A critical aspect of festivals, espe
cially indigenous ones, is the way in which they allow for creative
expression and bolster the cultural identity and confidence of a
people. This is manifest in strong word-of-mouth promotion and
the general good-feel that they generate. Festivals and the cultural
industries are a means by which the Caribbean can further per
petuate and transplant its culture and values and thus influence
global culture, media and public opinion. The decline of Reggae Sunsplash and the recent postponement
of the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival signal that a festival tour
ism strategy is difficult to sustain on pure market terms. As the two
festivals illustrate, events of this type cannot generate enough revenue from gate receipts. If they are also subject to free riding from corporate entities like hoteliers and airlines then they suffer
the fate of market failure. This explains why most large festivals
worldwide are financed in large part through governments when
corporate sponsorship is insufficient. Financing a festival strategy has proven to be a worthy investment in other Caribbean
territories.
1 42 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES
The Jamaican tourism sector, on the other hand, has not found
the right mix of public and private investment to sustain its key festivals. For Jamaica the time may have arrived for the govern
ment to provide a higher level of leadership in bringing the key stakeholders in the tourism economy into a joint festival strategy. If
the festivals are left to the winds of the market and government indifference the Jamaican tourism industry may find that it has
squandered its initial advantage in this dynamic area of tourism
development.
REFERENCES
Alliance for the Arts (1997). The Economic Impact of the Arts on New York
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