Marketing Image of Trinidad Carnival - Case Study Example

The Trinidad Carnival (Insert Name of the Student) (Insert Name of the Student) (Insert Name of the Instructor) (Insert Name of the Course) (Insert Code of the Course) (Insert Submission Date) Introduction The Trinidad Carnival is a Trinidad and Tobago annual hall mark event celebrated every Monday and Tuesday before the Ash Wednesday at the nation’s capital, Port of Spain. It has its roots in the French colonialists who brought in their culture and pomp into the Caribbean island country in 1783. Together with the British, they would hold a merry making carnival marked by colourful masquerades and ball. The African slaves were however banned from attending this festivity. They in turn held their own, incorporating their own cultures with that of their masters in the backyards. Following the abolishment of slave trade in 1838, the Africans took over the carnival and paraded it on the streets. The carnival also incorporated the cultures of other immigrants who are of East-Indian descent, Chinese, Whites and a minority Syrian-Lebanese (Green, 2002, p. 284). The festivities start on Boxing Day with parting all through to Carnival Sunday before officially starting on Monday. On Monday, the celebrations begin as early as 4 a.m. in a party known as J’ Ouvert. J’ Ouvert is a French word to mean Open day. It is a party to celebrate Trinidad’s historical folklore. The party goers have mud, chocolate, oil and paint covering their bodies. They also don headpieces with horns to depict evil. They party till morning and then change to more colourful costumes in a party called pretty mas. Mas is a shorter form of the word masquerade. The revellers gyrate their hips to the sounds of calypso music in a dance move called wining. The event goes on throughout the day and pours into the next day when the party starts at 8 a.m. This is the grand day of the festival. The masqueraders dress in historical costumes and parade their bands across the stage where judges are seated to award them marks. The best band is awarded Masquerade Band of the Year. This paper examines how this event is used to market the distinctive image of the island as a cultural destination, how it seeks to reimage the destination and the benefits that the community gain other than tourism. Marketing image of Trinidad Trinidad is by large multicultural. Most of the citizens however, are of African and Indian descent. There are also the Chinese, Portuguese, French, Italian, British and Mid-Eastern. Religion is also as diverse with Christianity being the dominant religion. It has also Hinduism, Islam among others. The Trinidad carnival therefore seeks to promote this cultural diversity. The many cultures of the country are represented in the masquerade costumes. The Indian masquerade is a reflection of the red Indians who traded historically with the Trinidad natives. The masquerade is donned with red clothing and red body paint or mud. This is accompanied by big fancy wire headpieces. The masquerade however is redesigned every year and far from the traditional red, they also wear black, blue, white, shiny foil and sequin. The change in the theme colours reflects the adoption of other foreign cultures in the festival. The adoption of other cultures is also witnessed in the wearing of bikini with pieces of Indian dress cuttings on the arms and legs not forgetting the headpiece (Hosein, 2008, p. 34). The Moko Jumbie masquerade celebrates the Africans from West Africa. The characters dance on high stilts dressed in long, colourful pants or dress. The character’s height depicts a god who can see over evil. The sailor mas costume is used to reflect the British, American and French sailors who came into the island via ships. A unique costume is designed for each with accompanying music for the same. Jab Jab and Jab Molassie masquerade celebrates the French culture. The Jab Jab depicts a pretty devil. The characters wear colourful satin shirts which have rhinestones or mirrors on them. They also wear satin knickers, stockings on their feet, and cloth padded headpieces with horns. They carry a whip to complete the look. The Jab Molassie on the other hand depicts devil molasses. The character wears short pants, wire tail and a headpiece with horns. The masqueraders body is covered in mud, paint or oil. His legs are covered in chains and a pitch fork on the hands to complete the look. Music has also been an integral part of the festival. Calypso music has been recognised as the authentic sound of Trinidad. It has heavy influences from the French and African descent. This was the music used to identify with the people. The songs gained even more popularity after the abolishment of slave trade and their inclusion in the carnival. Soca music which arose in the 1970’s, was meant to integrate the African and East Indian people. The Soca did this by retaining Indian rhythms but using the instruments of calypso songs. The Indian rhythm has however almost disappeared over the years but the role the songs played historically is still evident. Other musical influences in the carnival include steel pan music and the new form of music, riddims favoured by the younger generation. Percussion and stick fighting music was banned by the colonialists and consequently gave rise to a new musical form, the Tamboo-Bamboo. This was played by hitting bamboo sticks together on the ground. This further transformed to include steel bins and frying pans rather than hitting the sticks on the ground, thus gave the name steel pan music. Riddims are an up-tempo version of reggae songs and has also penetrated the carnival setting due to the influence of the younger generation. Reimagining The carnival has had mixed reactions among investors, the public and the government. There are those who want the festival to reinforce the African culture and those who want to reimage it to have a more European appeal. The private investors are in favour of the explicit content since they want to capitalise on the marketability of sex tourism. Contrary, the government saw the event as an array of explicit content through music that has a sexual connotation to it and ridicule to major global events. They have also questioned the behaviour of those in attendance who are seen to indulge in explicit behaviour. After World War I, the Port of Spain mayor formed the Carnival Improvement Committee (CIC) which was supposed to market the carnival and also improve its image from the explicitly it was known for. The committee was to introduce these clean-up policies bit by bit to avoid negative lashing from the community. The CIC also proposed to have calypsos performed before the carnival day so as to assess how vulgar they were. This campaign was not successful due to heavy resistance from the locals. This committee was later integrated to the newly formed Tourist and Exhibition Board. The board was then suspended after World War II broke out. After the war, the new government formulated a five year plan that recognised the role of tourism in the economy. The plan like the CIC, advocated for a “clean” form of tourism free of vulgar and explicit content. These thinking led to the ‘Be Nice, It’s Nice’ campaign that received negative comments and ridicule from the public (Green, 2002, p. 297). The government has however succeeded in reimaging the event away from the traditional aspects of nudity and explicit content over the years. The government formed the San Francisco Carnival Committee which managed to make the event competitive by providing prizes to the best masquerade. It also set the competition’s rules and regulations, managed traffic flow during the event and did the sponsoring. The committee performed these roles until the National Carnival Commission (NCC) was formed. The commission oversees the activities of the fifty committees all over the country and decides the carnival dates. Cowley (1996 p.131) recognises that the laws introduced between 1868 and 1895 have continually changed the carnival to more acceptable forms. Other benefits to the community According to Green (2002 p.14), in the 1970’s there was a growing discontent among the citizen’s with the government of the day and the carnival was essential in bringing back the nation’s pride. Commercialisation of the event has also created employment opportunities for the locals as well. For example, the Kiskidee Karavan, one of the private sector’s commercial investments employed 120 youths. This is just a small reflection of the gains that the community reaps from the event. The carnival has also led to the rise of local bands. It is estimated by the Music Bands Association of Trinidad and Tobago that ten soca bands on the minimum are invited to play in other carnivals around the world. Masqueraders are also said to be bringing in foreign exchange from the demand in their costumes abroad (Mason, 1998, p. 167). Other than tourism, the island is also attracting major conferences. It hosted the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Convention and in 2009, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) with both events attracting over 5,000 delegates. This shows that the tourism environment is diversifying into other forms other than the carnival. The community is also benefiting from a cleaner environment as the government has intervened in its protection. It has levied a tax on sales earned from the tourism sector industries that goes towards a green fund. This fund is used to fund environmental projects. According to Ramgulam (2012, p. 348), the community is supporting the implementation of the Beverage Container act that is expected to enhance recycling projects and provide employments as well in the recycling plants. The hotel industry has adopted the green strategy and are now using e-tickets, recycling waste water, and by use of natural lighting systems as much as possible. Conclusion The Trinidad Carnival stands out as a unique tourism aspect as opposed to the other Caribbean countries known for sun and sand tourism. The event has transformed from being a colonial event celebrated by a few to a worldwide event that attracts tourists from far and wide. The recognition and celebration of other cultures in the event has also enhanced the multicultural image of the country. In a world where racism is considered native, Trinidad does not fall victim. The event has become a national identity symbol that has seen many people profit from its fame. It has helped the local hotel industry grow in leaps and bounds. International hotel chains have set up base here such as the executive Hyatt and Hilton hotels. This has not only offered the locals employment but also foreign exchange for the country. The Conference centres have also attracted high class dignitaries boosting the image of the country as a destination. The future of the carnival looks bright and the government has done well to get involved in its marketing. References Cowley, J 1996, Carnival, canboulay and calypso: Traditions in the making, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Green, GL 2002, ‘Marketing the nation: Carnival and tourism in Trinidad and Tobago’, Critique of anthropology vol. 22 No. 3 pp. 283-304. Hosein, GJ 2008, ‘Love for mas: state authority and carnival development in San Fernando, Trinidad’, Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies, vol. 33, no. 1, pp 31-53. Mason, P 1998, Bacchanal! The carnival culture of Trinidad Temple, University Press, Philadelphia. Ramgulum, N. 2012, ‘Embracing environmental sustainability in the 21st century: An assessment of Trinidad’s mice market’, in Global conference on business and finance proceedings University of West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago, vol. 7, no. 2 pp. 343-354. Read More