Saint Lucia sees record 34,895 arrivals in August 2024, marking 27% growth year-over-year

Saint Lucia: In a significant development, August 2024 has turned out be a huge milestone for the tourism sector of Saint Lucia as the island recorded 34,895 visitor arrivals.

The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority expressed its pride and said that this figure represents a whopping increase of 27 percent as compared to August 2023. This also marks the 8th consecutive month on month growth during this year.

According to the data, the US market led this upward trend and accounted for a total of 54 percent of total arrivals. This shows a remarkable 44 percent increase over US arrivals from the previous year in August.

The Tourism Authority of Saint Lucia attributed this increase to a 53 percent increase in available seats from the United States market which was primarily pushed by American Airlines’ expanded service from Miami and Charlotte.

Not only this, but the Caribbean region also recorded notable growth with the arrivals increasing by 29 percent year over year due to a 29 percent increase in available seats.

The Authority noted that major contributions came from airlines including Air Adelphi, interCaribbean and Sunrise Airways which expanded direct airlift from Antigua, Martinique, Barbados, Guadeloupe and Jamaica.

In addition to this, Saint Lucia proudly hosted the Goodwill Swimming Championship in August which attracted a huge influx of visitors from across the Caribbean region.

Moreover, the year to date data for August showcased that the stay over arrivals are also 18 percent more than previous year and 3 percent above the same period before the pandemic in 2019, serving as a key benchmark from before the pandemic.

This date also show that the island nation is back on track to surpass 2019’s stay over arrivals totals by the end of this year which would signal a robust recovery for the tourism industry of Saint Lucia.

As the numbers were revealed, the tourism stakeholders expressed their optimism about sustaining the momentum as the island continues to enhance its appeal as a premier destination. 

The CEO of Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Louis EA Lewis said that as his team partner across the industry, they are committed to execute innovative strategies which would further elevate the visitor experience and attract even more travellers to the shores. 

He said that Saint Lucia is implementing a reimagined strategy and recent partnerships with the New York Yankees and Olympic Medalist Julien Alfred serving as the Tourism Ambassador will build on this positive trajectory and assure that the island remains the top choice for visitors seeking lifetime experiences.