When the Soca Warriors touch down in Germany to participate in T&T’s first-ever World Cup Finals from June 9 to July 9, the Germans will have already been warmed by the culture of the invaders, mainly through steelpan and soca.
Terry Joseph, the Local Organising Committee of T&T/Germany Ltd’s cultural liaison officer, made the announcement at the launching of the Soca Warriors’ Web site, at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.
Joseph told a large gathering, which included national coach Leo Beenhakker and members of the Warriors’ technical staff:
“Given the nature of the team and the impact the steelpan music had on the supporters in the matches in Mexico, Panama and Bahrain, our emphasis will be on soca and the steelband music.
“We feel strongly that these two must form a core of our cultural show for Germany, as we plan to put on a number of exciting concerts to sensitise the people about T&T’s culture.”
Joseph said the mayors of the three cities where the Soca Warriors will play are also anticipating the big impact T&T’s culture could have on their cities during the tournament.
Joseph said the aim of the cultural programme was to demonstrate the culture of T&T.
“It offers us a diamond opportunity for branding and making a statement,” he said.
He said a lot of things would also take place at home before the team left for Germany, among them the Soca Warriors’ fete, which will be hosted by R&B songstress Janet Jackson, and which will give part of the proceeds to the players.
In addition, Brass Festival had also endorsed the Soca Warriors team concept.
Minister of Tourism, Howard Chin Lee, said T&T’s qualification had presented the country with a unique chance to promote itself.
After the team’s qualification, Chin Lee said he approached T&T Football Federation special adviser Jack Warner to discuss the possibilities for collaboration between the ministry and the federation in marketing the country, because Europe, and Germany in particular, was one of T&T’s major sources of tourist visitors.
He said Warner agreed, and after a meeting between the parties, a joint tourism marketing steering committee, comprising members from the ministry, T&TFF, Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, and Tobago House of Assembly, was formed to plan, develop and manage the Soca Warriors' marketing campaign and act as a clearing house for all marketing initiatives.
In furtherance of this agreement, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ministry of Tourism and the T&TFF on December 2.
The strategy of the marketing committee was to utilise a cost-effective, high-quality, technology-oriented marketing programme that would afford maximum reach and impact on people watching the 2006 World Cup games, at the lowest possible cost, Chin Lee said.
“We therefore needed a focal point that would provide information about the Soca Warriors team and their background. A Web site would fit the bill perfectly.
“And having attracted people to the site, we can then showcase our country, our attractions, highlight our culture and make it easy for the potential visitor to find out much more about us, and so the Web site socawarriorstt.com was born.”
Chin Lee said he hoped it would also be the portal for our Soca Warriors fans, not only here in T&T, but worldwide, to communicate with each other.