By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas National Festival Commission (BNFC) yesterday said the privatisation of its activities and Junkanoo Carnival is the end goal, its chairman saying: “That has always been our objective.”

Paul Major emphasised: “Anyone who says that the BNFC and its work with the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival has not created economic opportunities for entrepreneurs is simply not being truthful.

“We have not only turned them loose as entrepreneurs but we have trained them. We have insisted that they have financial statements, and we are trying to wean them off being dependent.

“In the case of the Road Fever event we gave them no subsidies in 2016, and we don’t plan to give them any in 2017. For all intents and purposes, they have even privatised.”

Mr Major, addressing a BNFC press conference, added: “That has always been our objective. We don’t need staff; we need to create opportunities for people outside of the BNFC so that they have sustainable businesses.

“The BNFC is a governmental agency. That is not where we want to build the infrastructure. We want to build the resources and opportunities outside, and that will be the measure of our success. We need to continue the use of the PPP (public-private partnership) model and the ultimate privatisation of the BNFC activities.”

Mr Major said Junkanoo Carnival was attracting more tourists, as shown by the 2016 results. “There were a whole lot of discussions around the subject in the first year,” he said.

“Everyone held our feet to the fire on the question over heads in beds. We took that very seriously. It isn’t about recycling Bahamian money among Bahamians, but trying to attract foreign dollars to our shores.

“In Grand Bahama, if you look at the Carnival weekend, we went from 1,200 people in 2015 to virtually 2,000 people in 2016. That is a 65 per cent increase. There is no question that this thing is catching on and the cruise operators are co-operating with us.”

    The BNFC said air arrivals in Grand Bahama increased by  64.5 per cent during the Carnival weekend compared to the same period in 2015, while Nassau air arrivals increased by 11.5 per cent.

According to the BNFC, in Grand Bahama there were  21,000 attendees, and in Nassau some 39,700.

    “We have been beating on the doors of  cruise operators and they have told us in no uncertain terms that they are not going to invest in a  single event, and to ramp up a marketing campaign they need a year-round product.”Mr Major said. 

“We have on the weekend some 25,000 tourists and crew siting in the harbour, and on every exit survey the top complaint is there is nothing to do when they come to Nassau.”

Mr Major said that in terms of total domestic and international spending, in 2015 the BNFC spent $13.2 million, bringing that down to $8.5 million last year.

“It was the inaugural year. We couldn’t risk doing anything wrong. Like they say, you only get one chance to do it right, and I think we got it dead right. In the second year we didn’t have to spend  as much money. We went down from $13.2  to $8.5 million,” Mr Major added.