MINISTRY OF TOURISM TO CONDUCT AN ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE ANNUAL ST. KITTS MUSIC FESTIVAL TO ENSURE ITS SUSTAINABILITY

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, June 27, 2024 (SKNIS) – Following the staging of the 26th edition this year, the Ministry of Tourism intends to undertake a comprehensive Economic Impact Assessment of the annual St. Kitts Music Festival to determine whether necessary changes are needed to ensure its sustainability. This will include an in-depth look at the current three-night model.

Minister with responsibility for the music festival, the Honourable Marsha Henderson, said such an assessment is critically needed if the product is to remain competitive and attractive to patrons, given the different other festivities in neighbouring islands.

“The festivals in the region have different models and so for us to be able to compete we have to look to see whether this model is in fact sustainable. If you look at the amounts we spend on the music festival it’s almost like $10 million and so we need to see if this is sustainable when we consider the Economic Impact Assessment and how we can continue to change the model to make sure that the festival is sustainable as well,” Minister Henderson said during her appearance on the June 26, 2024, edition of the radio and television programme, InFocus.

It is anticipated that this crucial assessment will be completed by October 2024, in line with the commencement of the Government’s annual Budgetary process.

Minister Henderson added, “The Economic Impact Assessment, all of the other meetings that we are going to do, we intend to do some retreat and observations of other festivals and see how we can tweak ours to make sure that this festival is sustainable.”

The assessment will be led by Crest Analytics, working alongside the relevant stakeholders here in St. Kitts and Nevis. The minister also assured that public feedback will play an important role in their decision-making as well.

Irrespective of the outcome of the planned assessment, Minister Henderson commented that the St. Kitts Music Festival remains an important investment for the Federation, and one that has always accomplished what it was established to do—market the destination to the world.

“Last year for example, we received so much publicity out of the music festival, not just from the artistes but also from the media houses, people got to know about St. Kitts from all the good reviews,” the minister said, noting that the patrons who visit for the music festival are treated to the full cultural experience that the destination is renowned for.

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