SVG Tourism ‘out of recovery and ready to do business’ – Minister

Tourism stakeholders and business operators all gathered at the Kingstown Cruise terminal on Tuesday 23 January to listen to the state of the tourism industry’s address for 2024 by Minister Carlos James.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines faced various challenges in the tourism industry due to the global health pandemic and the recent volcanic eruption James expressed that amidst these challenges, the government provided support to stakeholders and now the industry is ready to do business again.

It is now evident, the growth in blue economy, particularly in the cruise and yachting sectors, and now the country is the leading yachting destination in the OECS surpassing St. Lucia.

“Preliminary data for the period January to December 2023 shows a 120% increase in cruise visitors to the destination. This is some 138,337 more visitors to the destination by cruise than the previous year. In fact, that’s more than the population of St. Vincent and the Grenadines…in 2023, we saw an up-tick in yachting by 43% over the same period the previous year.”

He explained that this sub-sector is expected to expand further this year as they are now at 50,476 yachting calls to SVG and that according to preliminary data 2023 outperforms 2022 by 83.2%.

He shared that as the winter season approaches in 2024, there is exciting news for air travel from Miami to St Vincent and the Grenadines. American Airlines will increase its weekly flights to six, excluding Wednesdays, starting November. He made note of collaborative efforts made with other airlines aimed at improve airlift capacity as well as anticipation of at least one new airline joining by year-end.

While negotiations are ongoing, JetBlue is confirmed to commence operations in 2024, with further announcements about additional carriers expected soon.

Preliminary 2023 data shows a 35.7% increase in air arrivals in comparison to 2022.

The tourism minister shared that the time has come to remove the idea of having an off and on season in tourism and instead push for year on tourism in SVG.

One initiative to complement the push of year on tourism is the “multimillion dollar industry” of weddings and honeymoons and in this year there will be a renewed effort in promoting SVG for that industry. This campaign will be used as a stepping stone to promote the e-license system, which James explained, “Anyone looking to get married in St. Vincent and the Grenadines can sit in a restaurant in Italy, in New York, in Miami [can] go online and they can book the application process, get to St Vincent and within 24 hours, they can be at a resort signing the documents to be the newest couple in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”

He further explained that in the past, while the destination was leading in destination weddings, there was a fall off because of Grenadines weddings.

Previously there was a long and tedious process which required a Governor General’s license form, which then required a stamp from the Attorney General and multiple trips to the registrar of marriages.

James also spoke of regulations for licensing and zoning of marine pleasure crafts, James described the situation of Jet Ski usage as a sort of tug-of-war with hoteliers and adventure seekers, “we have to strike a balance, zoning and regulating the importation and use of these jet skis is something which is a win for everyone, so if there is a hotel belt, we will not allow the operation of jet skis in those areas.”

The focus will now be on natural and remote areas like North Leeward which will result in new traffic and increased tourist spending in two new eco-tourism areas, focusing on marine tourism.

During his address, James announced the global launch of VincyMas 2024 as marketing and promotions are now underway for SVG.

In the past, the marketing officer of the Carnival Development Corporation(CDC) struggled in the marketing of this Vincentian product, so now “the entire arm of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority in every source market will have that full responsibility to now officially market Vincymas 2024 and Vincymas going forward.”

James also spoke of additions to the CDC board to aid in “ramping up support to the chair of the board Mr Ricardo Adams”.

P’tani Mas co-ordinator, Carlos James as well as marketing lead Karen Veira and local artisan Calvert Jones are the new additions to the CDC board.

“This is a good mix of technical skills, both in finance, marketing, and the professionalism that they bring to the existing board of the CDC.”

Calvert Jones will also be leading the revamp of the National Cultural Foundation which will focus on building out arts and festivals.