St Lucia marks 2021 as Progressive Year of Tourism

Castries, St Lucia: The government of Saint Lucia, on Wednesday, announced that the destination had witnessed a total of 199,347 stay-over arrivals in 2021.

In the previous year, the ‘island of love’ – St Lucia has surpassed all the possible projections set by the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) by approximately 12 percent.

By the continued efforts by the Government and Ministry of Tourism of St Lucia, the island has noted various record-breaking months and also witnessed a hike in the air services. According to the government of St Lucia, the travel destination has enjoy around 30,000 visitors; by the end of December 2021.

In the previous years, St Lucia reported more than double arrivals as compared to December 2020. According to the statics shared by the government, around 76 percent of the visitors were from the United States of America, the market figure stood at 152,248, and the United Kingdom contributed 16 percent with around 32,640 arrivals.

An upward trend was followed by the Caribbean and Canada, during the last quarter of the year. Caribbean islands contributed around 3 percent, and 2 percent were from Canada.

The destination also welcomed around 3,917 visitors from non-traditional markets.

After COVID-19 restrictions, the cruise sector was resumed in June 2021, and by December 31, St Lucia received more than 80,000 cruise visitors.

“We express joy while announcing Saint Lucia’s resilience which is at the core of the tourism sector. The growth experienced in the previous year is attributed to data-driven, well-performing flights and the reintroduction of services from key markets. St Lucia was also bestowed four major accolades and ancillary service providers were also awarded. This adds to Saint Lucia’s prominence in global marketplace & solidifies the mandate of marketing and driving demand for our island”, said Dr Ernest Hilaire, Minister for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture, and Information.

St Lucia has been progressing towards normalcy after restrictions imposed because of the global pandemic further; the SLTA has notified that for 2021 the number of stay-over arrivals has gone up by 53 percent, as compared to the same period of 2020.

The Government of Dominica has been announced that the inaugural “ARC January” has attracted more visitors during the first month of 2022.