Costly no-shows - Cancellation of major entertainment events could have $10b impact
Published:Sunday | May 10, 2020 | 12:00 AM
Losses within the entertainment industry are already estimated to be in the billions as the sector continues to reel from the impacts of COVID-19.
Major events like Reggae Sumfest, which has already been cancelled this year, had an estimated revenue impact of $1 billion last year, according to Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who said it was “arguably the largest Reggae Sumfest in terms of attendance from both local and overseas guests”.
Approximately 10,000 people visited the island for the weeklong festival in 2019, an increase of 3,000 patrons over the previous year.
Projections for the 2020 staging were already looking to surpass the success of last year’s before COVID-19 struck.
Owner Josef Bogdanovich, in a Gleaner interview last year, disclosed plans of increasing the venue capacity as he was looking to “get another 17 per cent capacity inside there (the Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex), if allowed”.
Other big events like Carnival and Dream Weekend also pump huge sums into the local economy, with several formal and informal sectors benefiting from the annual stagings. Kamal Bankay, director of Dream Weekend and co-chair for the Jamaica Carnival Stakeholders Committee, told eProbe that the two events alone have an estimated revenue impact upwards of $6 billion.
Bankay explains how the figures were derived.
“What we did for Dream is that we got a study done by the Jamaica Tourist Board. So basically, every consumer that comes to Dream spends an average of US$350 per day – taking into account food, transport, hotel, tickets to events, attractions, toiletries, etc. So US$350 times minimum of five days, times 10,000 people … and that is where we are in terms of Dream,” he explained.
The formula, Bankay says, would be similar for other festivals and major events like Carnival, Reggae Sumfest and Rebel Salute.
Impact on tourism sector
Many of these major festivals and parties are big tourism boosters, with patrons flocking to the island from around the globe to soak up the fun.
“Entertainment has been a cornerstone of Jamaica’s tourism product for decades,” admits Delano Seiveright, senior adviser/strategist in the tourism ministry.
It was this reality which led Minister Edmund Bartlett to seek to better organise direct entertainment tourism coordination and linkages, which led to the establishment of the Sports and Entertainment Network in the tourism ministry.
And Seiveright tells eProbe: “Through effective public-private partnerships, we have seen a boom in the arena, certainly over the last two to three years reflected in a larger and more dynamic Carnival in Jamaica, Reggae Sumfest, Rum Festival, Coffee Festival, Dream Weekend, among a slew of other events – big and small – that have become more international while maintaining that authentic Jamaican flair and seeing record-breaking numbers of patrons.”
However, Seiveright says the focus was now on strengthening Brand Jamaica’s image – “moving away from seasonality; attracting domestic and international visitors; and spreading the benefits of tourism more evenly were all bearing fruit” – until COVID-19.
“Unfortunately, COVID-19 has put a literal halt to entertainment tourism as we know it, not just in Jamaica, but the entire world. This time of lockdowns, travel restrictions, social distancing, limiting numbers of people in gatherings, and generally mitigating as much as possible person-to-person physical contact is ruinous,” he said.
The World Travel and Tourism Council has predicted a global loss of 75 million jobs and US$2.1 trillion in revenue in the tourism industry, and Seiveright says Jamaica is “haemorrhaging billions of dollars and thousands upon thousands of jobs”.
Recovery
Seiveright, however, remains confident that there will be eventual recovery and notes that “Minister [Olivia] Grange is, of course, leading the broader entertainment sector as we know it, while Bartlett is piloting the tourism focus”.
In addition, Seiveright said that the established COVID-19 Tourism Recovery Task Force, armed with public-private sector collaboration consisting of key stakeholders, “will bring about a realistic view of the sector’s baseline or starting position; develop scenarios for multiple versions of the future; establish the strategic posture for the sector as well as a broad direction of the journey back to growth”.
Some event promoters are also harbouring hopes that they will be able to reschedule some of the COVID-19-affected events to later this year.