Trinidad Newsday
In this 2020 file photo, Republic Bank Exodus performs in the large cand category in the national Panorama semi-final at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain. Pan Trinbago secretary Denise L J Hernandez says, ‘The biggest draw (of Carnival) comes from Panorama and pan activities…so, pan has been contributing to the economy of our country. We have been diversifying for a long time.’ -
The Prime Minister’s statement last week, that Trinidad and Tobago should not wait for funding from oil and gas revenues, may have left a bad taste in the mouths of some, but for several industries it was like preaching to the choir.
Industries in the cultural sector – music, film and mas – have for a very long time been opening new avenues for revenue streams into the country. Stakeholders in some of these industries have even gone so far as to say that they have been diversifying the economy of this country since its inception.
Revenue from past Carnivals which features mostly local creative content including soca, calypso, steelpan, locally made costumes and even locally filmed documentaries have drawn in income and foreign exchange in the hundreds of millions. In the last Carnival in 2020, despite the looming danger of covid19, visitors coming to TT spent a total of US$403 million. A total of 37,861 people came to TT's shores and spent an average of TT$820 a day. For Carnival 2019, 388,000 visitors came to TT, spending an average of US$400 million in that year as well on Carnival events, shows and products.
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