SVG’s honorary consul brokers deal with Middle East travel agency

DERON GRANT, this country’s honorary consul designate to Oman has announced an agreement with a major travel agency in the Middle East for the promotion of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

Grant, who is also a philanthropist and tennis coach told SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday that SVG will be the first Caribbean destination to be promoted by Oman United Agencies (OUA), which is the largest travel agency in Oman and a subsidiary of DNATA.

In an interview on We FM on April 11, Grant said that in December 2017, he began to use Facebook to promote SVG as a tourist site to the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries which include Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.

During his promotions, Grant said he discovered that many persons from these countries dreamed of visiting the Caribbean however they had felt it was unattainable. However when he described the ease of travelling to SVG, there was an excitement.

Grant said it was the existence of the Argyle International Airport and the ability to use New York as a hub to get to SVG that made the difference in the negotiations with OUA.

He said he was able to get OUA to say yes to SVG since the simple travel route would encourage persons to travel to the destination.

“Emirates Airlines is the largest airlines in the region and because Emirates flies directly to New York, that in itself creates an easier access to St Vincent with the Caribbean Airlines. What made it even sweeter is that Caribbean Airlines is going to have a second flight added to the schedule. It created more excitement to the company…,” he said in the radio interview.

Grant elaborated that most people in the Middle East travel between April and September to escape the hot temperatures. This he said would allow for more visitors to SVG during a period which is traditionally the slow season for tourism, allowing for a more sustainable tourist season which operates throughout the year.

Grant told SEARCHLIGHT that the promotion of SVG by OUA will be done at no cost to the St Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority or the Government of SVG.

Deron Grant (right) with Hormaz Muncherjee, Managing Director of OUA