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Contact:
John Emmanuel
Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - With the curtains closed on St. Lucia Jazz 2005
and tourism officials in the midst of carrying out their various assessments,
the many lessons learnt could be passed on to the French Antilles, as part of
further boosting cultural ties between St. Lucia and the French overseas
departments.
Consul General for St. Lucia to the French Antilles Mr. Cassius Elias says the
French dependent territories have demonstrated great interest in replicating the
island’s success in staging St. Lucia Jazz. “The Jazz festival brings a lot of
visitors to St. Lucia from Martinique. I have always said to them that they
don’t invite St. Lucians enough to their country given the fact that they don’t
promote their shows in St. Lucia, says Elias.
He says following a trip by Prime Minister Honourable Dr. Kenny Anthony to
Cayenne in January of this year, two officers from the Cayenne Board of Tourism
came to St. Lucia to work specifically with Tourist Board personnel, to observe
and to understudy the Jazz Festival. “Cayenne has a Jazz Festival which has been
fashioned after our very own Jazz festival, they have admitted to Prime Minister
Anthony,” says Consul General Elias.
Efforts at strengthening cultural ties between St. Lucia and the French
Antilles, in particularly neighbouring Martinique, have been given greater
impetus in recent weeks, spearheaded by the office of the Consul General based
in Martinique.
St. Lucia Jazz is widely acclaimed as one of the top five jazz events in the
world. Local tourism officials say sharing the lessons learnt with other
countries will in no way jeopardise St. Lucia’s product which continues to
evolve with every passing year. St. Lucia Jazz will move into its 15th year in
2006.
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