The founder of the Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari says he will work to make it a success for tourism and artistes in Barbados and the Caribbean.
Tom Hinds told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY that he expected the festival to become more popular here after its debut January 17 to 21. The event will also be staged in six different locations – Antigua, St Vincent, Grenada, Jamaica, Belize and Suriname – later this year.
“We are in the process of developing this product and we are in it for the long haul,” Hinds said. “The potential that we have going forward is tremendous.”
“Looking across the venues I was able to determine that there was a good showing from visitors. Going forward I can tell you that a more concerted effort will be in actually attracting people to come to Barbados specifically for the event. And this is not just for Barbados, this is also for the other territories we are visiting,” said Hinds.
The businessman added that there was a growing appreciation for jazz and he was already seeing great interest from those wanting to take part and those attending.
“Going forward we can see a growing number of young musicians being given the opportunity to perform in Barbados and the other territories with commitment on their part and even seeing themselves graduating to the larger countries.
“We can see a growing number of people travelling throughout the Caribbean following the Safari going forward,” predicted Hinds.
The jazz lover revealed that he had successfully “attracted” the Travelling Guitar Foundation – a nonprofit organization which provides musical equipment and support for schools.
Hinds said the foundation conducted workshops at five secondary schools and presented each of them with a guitar while on the island last month.
He said too that as a result, “it would not be surprising that those children who benefited from that could be the next [pianist] Stefan Walcott”. (MM)
