Hotel occupancy in St Vincent and the Grenadines surges above 75%: Tourism Minister

St Vincent and the Grenadines: Minister of Tourism Carlos James expressed optimism about the current spike in the occupancy rates at hotels and other accommodation establishments in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

He said that at present this hike continues to rise above 75 percent ahead of the island’s premiere festival – Vincy Mas and the ICC Cricket World Cup.

“When you look at the numbers, from the accommodation side, we are pretty much well over 75% capacity across all accommodations and some of the major accommodations. They, in fact, are close to 90, if not 100%. And we’ll get to 100% in the coming days as we move into the super eight games here, in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,” outlined James.

He gave these statements while speaking at a press briefing which took place outside the Financial Complex in Kingstown on June 12. He said that around 1400 rooms have already been booked for teams competing in the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup in addition to another 200 rooms for technical and support staff.

The Tourism Minister noted that the island is seeing a very interesting period in the bookings, during the month of June and added, “I know that the Hotel and Tourism Association, they have been working, closely with the Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism. Putting into context, what they have been doing is, is facilitating getting additional rooms for persons.

Furthermore, he encouraged the Airbnb operators to get in touch with the tourism officials because he is anticipating that during the final two games on the island, there will be a shortage of available room stack and the Airbnb’s can be helpful at that time.

The tourism minister said “The ICC T20 World Cup and Vincy Mas are set to bring a substantial economic boost, benefiting everyone from taxi operators and tour guides to small businesses and restaurants.”

This is because of the huge number of visitors which will be visiting the island in the coming days and will be staying for the various matches and events.