CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHAT’S APP GROUP
Matthew Urges Hotels to Contribute Financially to Carnival
Creative Industries Minister Daryll Matthew is appealing to the hotel sector to offer more tangible financial support for Antigua and Barbuda’s Carnival, saying the industry profits significantly from the influx of visitors during the annual event.
Speaking on ABS’s First Look programme, the minister said Carnival contributes directly to increased tourist arrivals, hotel occupancy, and spending in the local economy, yet the financial burden of staging the festival remains largely on the government.
“The only entity that doesn’t see a tangible return is the Department of Creative Industries and the Festival’s Office,” Matthew said.
“We spend a tremendous amount of money organising and marketing Carnival, but the funds go into the wider economy.”
He noted that stakeholders such as nail technicians, clothing retailers, and restaurants all benefit during the Carnival season — as do hotels, which often report near-full occupancy during the traditionally slower months of June and July.
“When our hoteliers boast of 80% and 90% occupancy during the summer, it’s not just because Antigua is a beautiful place. It’s because they come for an event called Carnival,” he said.
Matthew specifically called on hotels to move beyond token contributions such as complimentary day passes and instead commit real financial resources.
“We need cold, hard cash to pay for the event called Carnival,” he stated.
According to the minister, the government invests over $5 million annually into Carnival, covering marketing, logistics, prize money, and payments to service providers.
While Cabinet support has ensured financial stability in recent years, Matthew said broader stakeholder contributions are essential for sustainability.
“If they [hotels] do well, the country does well. But for specific events that attract persons to Antigua and Barbuda, they need to support those events — Carnival and cricket in particular,” he said.
With preparations for Carnival 2025 already underway, including record interest in costume bands and strong music production, the government is aiming to deliver one of the largest and most successful festivals in years.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHAT’S APP GROUP
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHAT’S APP GROUP
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHAT’S APP GROUP
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHAT’S APP GROUP
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHAT’S APP GROUP
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHAT’S APP GROUP
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHAT’S APP GROUP
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHAT’S APP GROUP
Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]
Dem ah mek all de money off de visitors, so why dem can’t put back into de culture?
Makes sense—hotels benefit big time from Carnival, so they should chip in.
If dem nah want support we culture, maybe we start recommend guest house instead!
Hotels, airlines, bars—they all profit. Time for them to give back directly.
Tourism and culture go hand in hand. Hotel man dem need fi member dat.]
We spending 5 million on carnival yet minimum wage is $9 an hour and the government want the hotels to invest more in carnival.
How about you increase the minimum wage instead. Carnival is once a year and when it’s over life still goes on and we still in the same position working for $9 an hour and can bearly cover our daily bills.
How many times will we milk the same cow. It will not have anymore milk in the end. Its not only the hotels that are benefitting from Carnaval. It’s a whole trickle down effect. The Mass Troup in my opinion are the biggest beneficiary of Carnaval. And their costumes are getting more and more expensive. And then you have the promoters of the various fetes. I mean Many people coming down for carnival are staying with family and these days AirBnB is the INN thing. Because the young folks donot want to be restricted to the rules of hotels where you cannot bring your friends and you cannot make noise afetr certain hours. AirBnB’s should be the ones target to pay not hotels. Hotels have high operating cost and need the extra money to keep staff employed. And we know July August are slow months. So much so that they offer staycation to the locals who want to getaway from the Carnival festivisities. I’m one of them. I had enough partying in my younger years. I understand that the Jaycees Queen Show will be cancelled. The direct effect of this is that certain ladies boutiques will sell less evening dresses this year. I think of tax incentives that the government should offer to those that sponsor Carnival. I would suggest something like 50% of your sponsorship to a registered show will be applied to your tax liability at year end. Or we need to seriously think of privaticing Carnival. Put it out for bidding. And not just for one year. But for a three years contract. And a performance clause that they invest a minimum amount into it. Anyway Mr. Minister I think you should rethink about milking the hotel cow again.
Carnival should be privatised. It is too much for the government to continue to fund it. Privatisation will make it run more efficiently.
Comments are closed.