With The Bahamas preparing to host its first rum festival next month, a senior government official has suggested that events like these throughout the year could generate up to three percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
Festival Rum Bahamas is just one of ten festivals that The Bahamas expects to benefit from, according to Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr. Daniel Johnson.
Recognizing that the country's economy is currently "flat", he stressed that there is a tremendous opportunity to "exploit culture" as another revenue generating stream. "Culture is a billion-dollar industry and this festival is going to slice off a piece of that pie. The better you get, a bigger portion of the pie you will receive, and that's been a challenge to us. We have to push it and support it. We have studied the impact of culture and what it could do on our country," he revealed during a press conference to officially announce the three-day rum festival.
"There is a billion dollars worth of art and entertainment sitting there for us to take. Now it's up to you how much of that economic potential that you are able to walk away with. But there is a billion-dollar culture industry based on the fact that we have five million visitors and they extrapolate the spend. Cruise ship passengers have money that they're willing to spend but they need something to spend it on. We know that tourists will spend money on festivals."
Fort Charlotte is expected to undergo a complete transformation as part of the festival. Rum competitions, rum vendors, food booths, live entertainment, visual displays, rum tastings involving over 30 rums, culinary competitions, educational talks and live demonstrations will be just some of the features that will be highlighted at the festival.
Event Chairperson Alexandra Maillis-Lynch projects that it will cost $600,000 to stage and an estimated 9,000 people will attend the inaugural event.
"We believe in the potential of this event, so we are challenging our vendors to think outside of the box. Come out and sell yourself. We're not taking profits from our vendors so we don't control how you sell yourself. We're merely the facilitators, you make your money so how you price it, how you market, that's entirely up to our vendors," she said.
"There's a huge following of rum festivals around the world. So that's why we're really pushing to take this to the entire Bahamian market, in addition to tourists."
The Ministry of Tourism is also onboard as the festival's marketing partner. Tourism officials believe that Festival Rum Bahamas is an "excellent" fit with the country's tourism product, providing another compelling reason for visitors to come to The Bahamas.
The festival is set to take February 21-23 at Fort Charlotte from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m., with a daily entry fee of $25 per person or $60 for a three-day package. VIP packages are also available.

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