St. George’s November 23rd 2012………Minister for Tourism Senator Dr. George Vincent says the Caribbean Youth Forum on safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage taking place in Grenada, can have long term benefits for this country’s tourism sector.
In delivering the feature address at the opening ceremony of the UNESCO sponsored forum on Tuesday, the Tourism Minister pointed out that a critical issue facing the industry is the lack of appeal in attracting visitors to spend more money.
“What is happening in Grenada is that we are seeing a reduction in spending by visitors particularly cruise visitors and that is so because we are not sufficiently emphasizing our uniqueness”
Dr. Vincent added that the problem is not unique to Grenada. He stated that throughout the OECS visitors are exposed to souvenirs made in developed nations, which are sold within the OECS. This, according to the Tourism Minister, is not in keeping with marketing the destination through its cultural heritage.
“ We are getting modern, but our visitors want more of our history ....our Maroon and String band festivals and souvenirs that reflect our past, our culture and our heritage” the Tourism Minister added.
“We want to emphasise the importance of our heritage ...what comes out of our creole, our designs and production to make sure our traditions remain and use it to go forward”....The Tourism Minister implored on participants.
The Tourism Minister encouraged participants whom he addressed as the “Chosen Ones” to reach out to the older folks and to figure out what they captured, but to also record and research these stories so that 30 years later we would be in a position to pass it on.
“Go back to the villages and find the oral rituals and traditions that we need to take the industry our history and our culture forward, so that we can educate our children and grandchildren so that what they learned can be skillfully used to create designs that are unique to us….it is only in that way we can develop our craft and souvenirs industry.”
The UNESCO Caribbean Youth Forum on Intangible Cultural Heritage will conclude on 24 November 2012.
When it comes to civilizations, in the begnining there was Egypt and the rest of the world followed. I can not wait until Egypt is back to norm and stability so I can go and visit. However, I will never put a foot in that country if the Muslim Brotherhood has anything to do with the new government or if the new government does not separate between religion and state!!!!
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By: Muis 12/6/2012 12:16:26 AM
Mr. Minister, will also take into effect the health care system, our people's attitude to returning Grenadians in Diaspora, the poor level of customer service they often experience at the prot of entry, local business and slow govenment response to complaints? Mr. Tourism minister, please train our government employees to recognize that the Black dollar has the same value as the White US dollar or British pound. Our failure to move beyond colonialism,the slave mentality and refusal to move beyond the "Crabs in the Barrel" mentality is killing economic growth.
