The CFSG met on several occasions to review cash-flow projections and financial variance reports from the CCC to ensure that it was following sound business practices. The CCC now operates under the guidance of a newly selected Chief Executive Officer and is developing a comprehensive restructuring plan. The CCC will hold its annual general membership meeting to select new board members after receipt of the audited financial statements for the 1997-98 fiscal year in January 1999. The Caribana Festival has a large impact on the Toronto economy - probably greater than any other single event that takes place during the year. Hundreds of thousands of people attend the Parade each year.
Survey data indicate that almost half of the audience comes from outside Toronto.
What's more, Caribana has a demonstrated ability to attract tourists - 36 percent of the people watching the Parade indicated that they travelled to Toronto specifically for Caribana. The economic impact of the Caribana Festival was last studied in 1990. Updating this information for the 1998 Festival would have required a comparable allocation of resources plus several months to organize the required surveys. The priority in May and June was to secure enough funding for the Festival itself, and it was not possible to also allocate resources or find funding partners for an economic impact analysis. Therefore, an updated estimate of the economic impact of the 1998 Caribana has been calculated based on information already available and secondary sources of data.