Expanding Carnival in Trinidad

At the recent ITB conference in Berlin, Germany, Johnson Johnrose of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Rajiv Shandilya of the Trinidad Tourism Development Corporation about their carnival.

JOHNSON JOHNROSE: Typically, you say Trinidad, and the first word that comes to mind is “carnival.” How are you in this market, promoting the other sides of Trinidad beyond just Carnival?

RAJIV SHANDILYA: The beauty of Trinidad and Tobago is our diversity. Carnival has represented mostly a homecoming, for not only West Indians living abroad, but especially for Trinis and Tobagoans who have been living away for quite awhile, and they use that particular opportunity for homecoming. And yes, we have marketed within those areas. And looking in terms of the diaspora, Carnival is almost always sold out.

What I intend to do with Carnival, is I’m going to expand the Carnival period, so we are really going to try and sell the pre-carnival, compared to the Monday and Tuesday of Carnival, in which there are a lot of activities. There’s an old traditional mass. You can actually come to the shows before, and the entire feeling of Carnival, I’m trying to expand it, rather than as a 7-day stay, that it could probably go to 14 days. What happens is, if one does come down for Carnival, before you actually immerse yourself into the Carnival, you’re going to enjoy the other gems of Trinidad.