Barbados should expect ???good numbers??? out of the twin island republic for Crop Over 2016, thanks to increased marketing efforts during Trinidad and Tobago???s Carnival celebrations.

Minister of Culture, Stephen Lashley, made this disclosure today during an interview with the Barbados Government Information Service, as he reported on his delegation’s visit to Trinidad for Carnival.

According to Mr. Lashley, efforts were made to target Trinidad Carnival-goers on a much larger scale.??

???The National Cultural Foundation teamed up with the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. to launch the Crop Over We Go promotion, which targets television, radio and entertainment events during and after Carnival,??? he stated.

In examining the benefits of the marketing push, Mr. Lashley said that Trinidad offered a great target market for Crop Over because of the large numbers of persons attracted to its carnival. ???It makes a lot of sense to launch Crop Over marketing initiatives at Carnival time because of the wide reach such a campaign would realise,??? he added.

Describing the reception of the Crop Over marketing efforts as ???great???, the Culture Minister disclosed that several television and radio interviews were booked, and specific Crop Over marketing drives were undertaken at all-inclusive fetes during Carnival.

Mr. Lashley also revealed that his team held talks with Trinidad’s Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly and her delegation, which included officials from that country???s Ministry of Tourism.??

???Those discussions explored ways of deepening cultural relations between the two countries, including specific areas of technical cooperation in pan music and costume design,??? he explained. He further stated that the two delegations discussed moving towards establishing a formal cultural agreement between the two countries.??

The Minister also commented on the impact of Barbadian soca music in Trinidad, saying it was evident that Bajan songs were extremely popular among Trinidadians. He stated that he wished to see even more collaboration between Trinidad and Barbados in the areas of sound engineering, song writing and production.

The visit was a continuation of a five-year cultural exchange programme, which coincides each year with Carnival in the twin-island state. A reciprocal visit to Barbados during Crop Over by the Trinidad Minister of Culture and her delegation has been planned.??The respective winners of the calypso competitions in each country are also part of the exchange programme.

jamal.weekes@barbados.gov.bb

Author: Ministry of Culture/Jamal Weekes

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