And we also asked the Tourism Minister about the BTB's next big initiative, this one aimed at creating exposure for local musicians and food vendors. It's a $750,000 music and food festival that hopes to derive its return in visitation and global buzz, and not so much so in ticket sales.
Now, that doesn't sit right with a lot of people who feel that the concert is, well, a waste of taxpayers' money. But Minister Mahler explained that there's no price that can be put on exposing Belize's culture and music.
But when we asked about ticket sales, Mahler didn't make sound like they were doing too well - especially since the concert is only a month away. He explained that they're expected to sell faster as the event nears.
Hon. Anthony Mahler - Minister of Tourism
"For any event like this, ticket sales are always in the last two weeks, last week, I've been a part of so many events throughout my lifetime and I have some experience in it but there is a lot of excitement, a lot of people have called in, in fact I believe all the premium booths have already been sold from what I gather and that is a good sign. You have some naysayers but that is just what the reality is today so I don't listen to them, if there is constructive criticism, then we make certain adjustments as we go along. culture, music, entertainment, in fact what we're doing right now, is working with an organization called Sound Diplomacy that was recommended to us through the OAS to develop a comprehensive music and entertainment strategy for Belize to be able to develop that sector of what we call the tourism industry. So it is important, culture, music, food, all of those things we want to give attention to, to take it to the next level."
Courtney Menzies
"But is it the worth the- because I know you said in a previous interview that you're not doing this for profit, it's more for the exposure for these artists, for our own culture, music, and food, but in the end is it worth it though considering how much money is being put into it?"
Hon. Anthony Mahler
"Well, you're just looking at the expense side of things, there's also ticket sales, there's also a bar, or bars, and so it's going to have some revenue generating capacity, and so the closer we move to breakeven, the better for us, so like I said, this is an investment in our people, this is an investment in our music. If Afro Beats can go global, then why can't we have Punta Beats? And there hasn't been an effort to structure the music industry so right now, what we're doing is investing in two music studios, one in Belize City, one in Orange Walk, and then we will help some that are in the private sector in terms of upgrades."
And he added that they're working with the IDB to get funding for those music studios that will be open for musicians to do quality recordings.
