Outgoing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Discover Dominica Authority (DDA) and Director of Tourism Colin Piper has acknowledged the need for improvement and change for Mas Domnik 2025.
He was delivering remarks at the final Carnival press conference for 2024 held at the Old Mill Cultural Center this week.
“As we look to the future we have exciting plans for next year’s Carnival,” Piper said. “We are planning as had been discussed increased participation in the city’s Carnival.”
He continued, “Learning from the experiences of this year we acknowledge the need for improvement and change. We recognize the importance of improving communications between the bands and the Road Parade Committee to ensure proper spacing between the bands on the Carnival route and clear communication on all Carnival matters.”
This Piper said will enhance the overall flow and experience for both participants and spectators.
Furthermore, Piper indicated that the DDA is considering changing the time for Jouvert.
“The DDA is considering great incentives to participants to encourage and improve traditional Mas on Carnival Monday, fostering a deeper connection to the country’s cultural heritage,” he explained. “We understand the importance of facilitating faster responses, duty-free requests and certainly we will be streamlining this process to contribute to the overall efficiency of our preparations for future Carnivals.”
Piper went on to state that Mas Domnik 2024 has been a remarkable celebration showcasing the spirit and resilience of Dominicans.
“Our success is a testament to the collaboration between local communities, businesses, and visitors as we look forward to the future. We remain committed to preserving and promoting Dominica’s rich cultural heritage by celebrating Mas Domnik…” he noted. “Let’s look forward to a successful Mas Domnik 2025 on March 3rd and 4th 2025.”
The Carnival Street Parade for 2024 involved over 30 participating groups and brought the ‘Real Mas’ theme to life. From Bwa Bwa and Sensay, to business floats, pageant contestants, monarchs, and more.
These groups representing various communities around the island were instrumental in creating the vibrancy and authentic atmosphere that defines Mas Domnik, making Mas Domnik 2024 a resounding success.
Meantime, Piper said there was a total of 4635 visitor attendance for Carnival 2024, which is a 12 percent increase compared to 2023.
He explained that a published IMF report on Dominica dated August 2023 indicates that each visitor spends $3323 for stayover visitors to the destination.
“If we apply that to the 4635 visitors that arrived in the period under review leading up to visitor arrival, it would indicate that up to $15.4 million of tourism expenditure happened on island from these visitors,” Piper explained.
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It is time to move Carnival to May. Moving it to May will most certainly give us some time to recover from Christmas and the New Year’s holiday break. This will give locals and visitors more time to get their financial situation to together and strengthen their spending power. In that way, you will see bigger crowds and more participation in carnival. It will give the musicians and organizers more time to prepare. A May Carnival will be a bigger and better Carnival.
Govt is now relying on mass, passport and tourist. Yet the poverty level keeps getting worse by the day. In the time of Ross University very little effort (if any) was given to the cultivation of mass and carnival. Just ask the Portsmouth people who devastated the second town of Dominica became after the ousting of the money machine which was ROSS UNIVERSITY. Barbadians are still laughing at Dominicans. Some Portsmouth people missed Ross so desperately they followed Ross to Barbados where they are doing very good. Imagine, a government bragging about money made in an event that takes place only two days in every 12 months. This is a shame and disgrace to Dominica and it’s people. Give us a factory or two so people can work 366 days every year making $20.00 an hour minimum wage, then you can online for the entire world to see you talk about progress instead of bragging about the biggest crowd in mass. Mass is only for a small segment of the population. Most do not partake in Mass.
That’s a bit of a stretch Colin. You have no idea if these visitors came for carnival or simply to enjoy other activities on the island. You may wish to consider that not interfering with carnival, not treating it as a tourism product, and allowing it to simply exist in its original, unspoilt, cultural heritage manifestation may actually attract visitors who are looking for something more authentic and heyond the ubiquitous party carnivals that now take place on all Caribbean islands. Embrace our difference.