Minister of Creative Industries Daryll Matthew says attracting international
companies as sponsors for carnival would be difficult to achieve based on what
these potential sponsors want to achieve.
Matthew was asked during a recent interview about the likelihood of the festival
securing international sponsors, to relieve the government of the huge expense it
is saddled with annually.
While it appeared to be a great idea, realistically, the minister said it was
impractical.
“It is something we have looked at in the past but it’s easier said than done. If you
look at the international companies, we don’t have a lot of international
companies domiciled here in Antigua and Barbuda who will have the sort of
marketing budget to support the carnival. So the companies that partner with us
are local companies who do not have the marketing muscle or budget as some
international companies. So when you speak to an international company the first
thing they ask is, what is the size of your population? For it to make business
sense to them they have to demonstrate that the size of your population can
generate the type of revenue to justify the sponsorship. Our population is too
small so it is always going to be an uphill battle,” he stated.
In addition to the sponsorship the annual summer festival garnered this year, a
working budget of approximately five million dollars was made available by the
government for the planning and execution of carnival.
“If I’m not mistaken, we got about $800,000.00 in sponsorship and the
government foots the bill for the rest of it. I must thank the Prime Minister and
the Cabinet for ensuring that there was sufficient funds to ‘keep the wheels
greased.’ This has allowed us to pay a lot of our service providers, not necessarily
in full, but a portion of what is owed,” he remarked.
A review of Carnival 2023 is to be undertaken before planning commences for the
summer festival next year.
While the figures are unknown at this stage, Minister Matthew is certain that the
economy has benefitted significantly.
