Showcasing cultural heritage

Government is seeking to revisit its approach to marketing the island which is heavily dependent on tourism with a new initiative dubbed The Authenticity Marketing Project.

Minister of Creative Economy, Culture and Sports John King made the announcement as he presented his brief remarks at the Community Participation in National Inventories and Registers Workshop which was held at the Radisson Aquatica Resort this morning.

King told the gathering there are many places of historical interest which are not known to the average Barbadian so his ministry has been tasked with ensuring that Barbadians know the places of historical significance in their community.

“My ministry, the Ministry of Creative Economy, Culture and Sports, has been charged with leading the way to develop what we are referring to as The Authenticity Marketing Project. It is a project that has seen us working alongside our colleagues in the Ministry of Tourism to conduct assessments of the communities across Barbados and to document their assets,” he said.

The member of Parliament for St Philip West said there were opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop sustainable products and services.

“These entrepreneurs will become an integral part of the tourism sector and communities will start to unearth and rediscover the valuable cultural heritage that lies within their environs. More importantly, we see the Authenticity Marketing Project as a vehicle to restore community pride,” he said.

King also noted the Project will work in tandem with the Barbados National Register of Historic Places and will be an asset for We Gathering 2020.

He commended the Organization of American States (OAS) for deciding to implement the Community Participation in National Inventories and Registers workshop. He noted it was timely as the ministry prepares an action plan for the Community Tourism Project and for hosting the OAS Eighth Meeting of Ministers of Culture from September 19-20, 2019.

“We in the Ministry felt so strongly about the linkage between our culture and tourism that we ensured that it has been addressed in the draft Declaration of Bridgetown that will be discussed by the Ministers of Culture at the OAS meeting,” King told the gathering.

Technical Project Manager (Cultural Heritage) at the OAS Celia Toppin said the workshop was a part of the Enhancing the Framework for the Development of a Heritage Economy in the Caribbean programme which has five components – the establishment of a Caribbean Heritage Network, the establishment of National Registers of Heritage Places or the Reorganization or enhancement of existing registers, the establishment of a sustainable development endorsement programme, the offering of two online courses at the Open Campus of the University of the West Indies and legislation for the protection of cultural heritage.

Toppin invited interested persons to check out the Caribbean Heritage Website at www.caribheritage.org (LG)