Friday, November 19, 2021
The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority recently released its latest figures ahead of the season for winter sun holidays. Visitor arrivals continue to rise as the destination works to restore tourism following the Covid-19 pandemic, with a 25 per cent increase on 2020 year to date.
An impressive total of 20,393 stay-over arrivals was recorded in October, up 61 per cent on 2020. October was also the most successful month for UK visitors in 2021 so far, with just under 6,000 arrivals, back in line with the seasonal average.
The US has seen a double-digit growth this year resulting in an overall increase of 56 per cent on the figures recorded year-to-date from 2020. July and August stayovers were the best yet – higher than in 2019, at 22,034 and 15,880 respectively.
From November 1, British Airways returned to daily flights, with three of those weekly flights out of London Heathrow from November 16 and from December 18, Virgin Atlantic returns with three flights a week from London Heathrow. The UK travel trade is reporting that forward bookings to Saint Lucia remain positive for the rest of 2021 and into 2022.
St Lucia Tourism Minister Ernest Hilaire said in a statement that the sustained regain is a clear indication that the carefully managed Covid-19 protocols, combined with well-targeted marketing, are seeing visitors return and increase convincingly.
However, he also clarified that it is not just about the numbers but feedback from visitors that tells that when they come to Saint Lucia, they have a wonderful time and feel reassured with how we are managing the tourist experience during the pandemic. He mentioned that more visitors means that visitor spend is recovering as well, which is helping local communities get back to work in tourism and recover economically.
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