New Activities and Regulations coming for SVG tourism

As St Vincent and the Grenadines makes huge strides in the tourism sector, regulating old habits should not come as a surprise for Vincentians.

In his State of Tourism address on Tuesday January, 23, Minister of Tourism, Carlos James enumerated increases in the number of cruise ship calls, airlift, visitor spending, hotel bookings, yachting and other marine activities, as well as events and opportunities for this year.

A revamped Easter Regatta for 2025 along with the SVG sailing week will be launched in this year. James shared that the goal is to pioneer advancements in yachting by organising numerous world sailing events, including the rejuvenated Easter Regatta.

To complement the increase in expected visitors for this year and additional airlines on the horizon, SVG will host its first ever Music Festival which will coincide with the launch of services from a major airline.

James made mention of last year’s One Family Concert held on August 1, 2023 at Victoria Park, noting that the show had a massive turnout and that it is “one of the best shows we’ve had in St Vincent and the Grenadines”. He shared that the time is ripe for local artistes to co-perform with international artistes and performers.

“I’m not saying Burna Boy is coming, but we will have a lot more international artistes and performers coming to St Vincent and the Grenadines starting this year.”

October is the chosen month for hosting the SVG Music Festival.

During the address, the audience learned that the Warner Music Group last week, wrapped up a shoot in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Currently the producers of a reality TV series are scouting the destination with plans to utilise SVG as the production site for their next season.

The Walt Disney blockbuster movie Pirates of the Caribbean – The Curse of the Black Pearl was filmed on mainland St Vincent in 2003.

With plans to attract more movie and TV show producers to the islands, James said it is necessary to implement various measures in targetting and attracting productions sets to SVG. A National Film Commission will be established to champion this push supported by the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) which James revealed will be headed by Calvert Jones, one of the new additions to the Carnival Development Corporation(CDC).

The NCF will focus on the advancement of culture and arts in SVG, as this year there are plans to host a Fashion Week as well as a Rhythm and Roots Creole festival; promoting local culture and artisans including the culinary arts.
During the address Minister James, said “The time has come for us to regularise beach vending”. He revealed that there are several complaints of conflict between vendors, about poorly built stalls, and “the use of the beach area without regard for fisherfolk, beach users and the public”.

He said a committee has been formed to reassess current legislation and formulate recommendations for regulating beach vending during this year.

“We have to be responsible in how we develop and how we package our destination as a premier destination for travel,” James noted.

During a question and answer segment a worker from National Parks voiced concerns about beach vending becoming a serious issue in the Grenadines, specifically Bequia where “Folks are owning areas of the beach as if it is theirs”. Making note of the distance between Bequia and mainland St Vincent, he said “For us at National Parks it is very difficult to manage the situation down there”.

Expanding he stressed that the issue problem is growing worse each year and he hopes that this year, some changes would be made.
Responding, James said “I want to say first and foremost I support everyone who is out there make an honest living; I support the vendors, but we also have to regulate”.

He said that part of the regulatory process is standards, and a sub-committee of the tourism department is responsible for crafting specific guidelines for the tourism sector.

“They have put together a number of measures in how we can look at the rollout of the standards for beach vendors within the tourism sector”…but “we now have to have the regulations which are tying into the standards to ensure that there is compliance and how we’ll work with that.”

He said the rollout should be ready in a few weeks time.