Hotels booked out for Cricket, Carnival – SVGHTA

The St Vincent and the Grenadines Hotel and Tourism Association (SVGHTA), has confirmed that all available accommodation under its membership is completely booked for June and early July.

SVG is expected to be a hive of activity over the next four weeks with the hosting of the ICC Men’s T/20 World Cup, as well Vincymas 2024.

Five matches are scheduled to be played in St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex on June 13, 14, 16, 22 and 24; while Vincymas runs from June 28 to July 9, 2024.

Representative of the SVG Hotel and Tourism Association, Tolga Akcayli, during an appearance on SVGTV’s Viewpoint programme on Sunday June 9, 2024, said that “hotels are completely filled to the brim”.

Akcayli said most hotels were booked from as early as November last year.

He said while it is difficult to say definitively which visitors are booked for carnival events or the cricket matches most of the hotels that have a 20 room stock and above are being used to host affiliates of cricket teams such media crews and representatives of the cricket teams.

“I can tell you that people who are staying in the large hotels, they are here generally for the cricket because [they are] media, camera operators, teams.”

The tourism operator said he believes that this year will be one of the most successful, in terms of attendance, for Vincymas.

“I believe this is going to be St Vincent’s biggest carnival in terms of attendance, because we have seen such an influx in St Vincent for carnival before. The issue is people who usually come, they are used to knowing that there would be space available for them, but now with the increased airlift to the country, we are receiving so many people for this outstanding cultural event.”

Akcayli also explained that AirBnB’s, which do not fall under the umbrella of the Hotel and Tourism Association, may be the only and last resort for accommodation for “last minute bookers”, but this too will be affected by availability for those who have not secured a booking as yet.

Akcayli also said with hotels being fully booked, there is a spillover for restaurants and taxi operators as well.

“We tend to see the media officials and the sportsmen, they tend to want to stay home at the hotels and they will definitely be dining in. You would have three and four celebrations…of course, people would always invite their friends and family for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is a huge positive impact in the hotel industry.”

The race putting the finishing touches to the cricket stadium had been threatened by delays with the installation of the flood lights on the grounds in late May, but last Wednesday June 5, 2024, the consultant on the project, Deirdre Millington-Myers told SEARCHLIGHT that everything needed was on site and they were looking forward to a successful completion of the Stadium.

On Monday night, the Local Organising Committee of the ICC conducted a stadium tour of the Arnos Vale Stadium with members of Government including Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves.