It
is refreshing to learn that the National Organizing Committee of the
International Roots Festival has been rolled out by the Honourable Minister of
Tourism and Culture and clearly there has been the desire and policy objective
to rebrand the festival. This is apt as
this culturally oriented festival has been crying for a serious and tangible
rebranding and it is refreshing and worthwhile that the authorities are looking
in to that direction with the seriousness it deserves.
The
Roots Festival was the brainchild of the Tourism authorities of the second
republic, who in their desire to revitalize tourism, initiated the
International Roots Homecoming Festival in 1996 with the primary objective to
attract the Africans in the Diaspora and also to serve as a strategy to prolong
the tourist season. As such, the Roots Homecoming Festival commemorates the
forced enslavement of Africans and brings descendants of slaves from across the
world to share in their ancestral Roots as well as showcasing The Gambia’s rich
cultural heritage. It has been mentioned elsewhere that “the objectives and the
lofty ideals embedded in the Roots Festival are still very relevant and with a
bit of rebranding this festival can be used to appeal and entice certain micro
segments”. However, by the time the 12th edition was rolled out in 2016 Roots
Festival had metamorphosed in to a national jamboree with limited cultural and
touristic flavor, heavy on politics and fanfare.
From
a tourism perspective the Roots Festival is a product geared primarily towards
cultural tourism with the overriding objective to broaden the product mix and
offer another interesting experience for three segments of leisure tourists
including culture seekers, ethnic tourists and history buffs. However given its
original focus on ‘homecoming’, the core constituency of the Roots festival has
always been ‘ethnic tourists’ who share a lot
in common with culture seekers, but they wish above all to explore the
culture from which their ancestors come from. These were the core clientele of
the Roots Homecoming Festival and for them the objective positioning of the
festival to the level of homecoming is the primary motivation to partake in the
festival. They seek first and foremost to explore their roots and any keen
observer of the Roots festival will not fail to notice this large group of
participants mainly from the USA and UK mainly under the auspices of Clarie
Mendy and or Alkamba Tours. For them the
highlight of the festival is the Roots Trail or pilgrimage to the Land of Roots
in Juffureh and the Kunta Kinteh Island to reconnect with the past.
However,
with time there was a felt need at policy level to reposition the Roots
Homecoming Festival and broaden its scope to appeal to other segments such as
the culture seekers who may not necessarily be on a homecoming mode but merely
seek to explore other people’s intangible heritage via food, dancing, arts,
drumming and songs. Culture seekers
constitute a notable segment of tourist to the Smiling Coast and according to
authoritative sources account for 32% of all tourists to the Smiling Coast and
I dare say that a huge chunk of tourists who participate in the Janjanbureh
Kankurang Festival are culture seekers and to a certain extent history buffs.
For the history buffs, their primary desire is to learn about the destinations
past. They view tourism primarily as vehicle to experience things they have
studied and learned about and last year I met a group of history buffs- UK
university students who came to the Smiling Coast primarily to participate in
the Kakurang festival in Janjanbureh.
Thus
there were loud cries to rebrand and effectively capture these target groups.
The proponents of this school of thought both within the public and private
sectors of tourism, argue that in a bid to maximize on the gains and enrich the
flavor of roots in line with shifting trends in tourism, Roots festival should
be rebranded to appeal to all the above mentioned segments including ethnic
travelers in this case African Americans, Black British and all people of
African descent in the Diasporas. At the same time Roots should be an
international festival with experience based culturally oriented products
designed to appeal to culture seekers and history buffs as well as the
Interpersonal travelers on seasonal visits to friends and relatives otherwise
known as semesters in local parlance. These interpersonal travelers travel to
socialize and meet people and the sub segment are those that travel to visit
friends and relatives. For most
destinations including the Smiling Coast, these category accounts for a large
number of personal trips and is more pronounced during the festive season of
December – January.
As
such Roots gradually metamorphosed in to
the International Roots Festival , but in my humble view and from a tourism and
marketing perspective this initiative failed to undertake robust objective
positioning -develop corresponding products to diversify and enrich the
festival in line with the needs and wants of the new target segments. As such
with time the International Roots Festival lost its original flavor as
homecoming initiative and could not adequately attract and appeal to the
culture seekers and the history buffs.
The
Way Forward
In
my humble view we need to strike a balance and first and foremost rebrand the
festival to the level of an international festival with a mix of culturally
flavoured products designed to suit the needs of culture priented segments, but
most notably the ethnic travelers who view roots as a pilgrimage to rediscover
their roots. For this segment we need to revisit the concept of the Roots Trail
with a view to making it more interesting and exciting and at the same time fix all the problems in
Juffureh – Albreda circuit and even add more heritage products in tandem with
the local communities to enrich the festival and accord the Africans from the
diaspora the opportunity to reconnect with their roots and discover the charm
and splendor of the Smiling Coast.
With
regards to the culture seekers and the history buffs we need to place more
emphasis on products revolving around our tangible and intangible heritage such
as the Ya-Bouye Home Cooking and home stays, dancing, masquerades such as the
Kankurang festival, Kosee festival, food fairs, Jangjanbureh Kankurang
Festival, Ninki Nanka encounters, river trips etc and all other manifestations
rooted in our ancient, and charming heritage.
For
the interpersonal travelers, Roots could be a mega event to showcase and
experience all the best of contemporary Gambia such as musical jamborees, food
festivals, cultural carnivals and business to business encounters, networking
sessions.
Finally,
in this rebranding exercise we need to pay more attention to these foregoing
issues including undertaking robust and innovative marketing strategies going
forward, while at the same time giving priority focus to product development,
product regeneration issues. Lest we
forget the success of any rebranding / positioning strategy hinges on the
objective and subjective forces at play.
By
LAMIN SAHO
TOURISM
AND MARKETING CONSULTANT
