Crop Over seeks to woo more global visitors

THE Barbados Tourism Inc (BTMI) in collaboration with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) made a soft launch of a new global campaign dubbed Love Crop Over.

This new campaign is about creating an emotional connection with Crop Over and Barbados to highlight all the things loved about the annual festival such as food, heritage, music, arts and events.

Love Crop Over's main focus is to get people aware of what they should enjoy and love at the event referred to as the sweetest summer festival; while placing emphasis on the uniqueness of the festival and what makes it enticing.

The new campaign was officially launched on February 19 at Synergy TV, Pon D Avenue, Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, and included a media tour of radio, TV, and also newspaper interviews. During the Carnival season the Barbados contingent held several event activation which included mobile photo booths, interactive games to win Love Crop Over branded merchandise and appearances by popular local brand ambassadors.

Raising awareness of the Crop Over Festival and re-establishing it on a global scale is the main goal of the campaign, as well as boosting arrivals, expenditure and cultural immersion for destination Barbados.

According to BTMI director for the Caribbean and Latin America, Corey Garnett, “The Love Crop Over campaign is both dynamic and inclusive as we support the NCF in spreading the message of Crop Over to both those new to the festival and those we are encouraging to return. We want them to fall in love all over again with Barbados and Crop Over.

“It is a national collaborative effort that we are excited to take to the world at a time when the demand for authentic cultural experiences is growing in a very competitive world.”

While in Trinidad the Love Crop Over team along with local artists and DJs made special appearances at various events to promote and create global awareness of the festival which runs from May to August.