The Ministry of Tourism is ramping up its campaign to bring more visitors to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
During a Press conference held on Monday March 20th, 2023 to discuss details for Easter, Minister of Tourism Hon. Carlos James pointed out that so far yacht arrivals are up by 84% for January over the previous year’s figures.
“We’re moving numbers from January alone of 2022 with just over 4000 to over 7000 yachts in that one month of 2023, which is showing that we’re just at the peak of moving out of the covid downturn in terms of our numbers where tourism is concerned and yachting is leading the charge,” James said.
Minister James said statistics show positive trends in visitor arrivals to the destination via yachts and the recently introduced daily service to the Argyle International Airport (AIA) out of Miami International Airport (MIA) by American Airlines. The Minister, however, pointed out that there is still room for improvement as the current numbers are below those set in 2019 by 11%.
Continuing on visitor arrivals, this time by air, Minister James was pleased to highlight that figures indicate steady inbound and outbound traffic with the newly introduced daily service to AIA from MIA with American Airlines. The Tourism Minister said that since its inception on March 1st, 2023 both inbound and outbound capacity are averaging at just under 80% and 74% respectively. Also, on the first day of the service 119 persons arrived with a full flight departing that same day.
In addition, the Minister announced that there will be increased flights for the Summer ahead of the 2023 staging of Vincy Mas, noting that Caribbean Airlines will be adding an additional weekly flight to AIA from the John F Kennedy Airport in New York, which is expected to commence from July 1st, 2023.
Minister James is also encouraging locals to participate in the various cultural activities that are steadily returning to the national social calendar since the slowdown caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic.
In the coming weeks a number of events will take place in the Grenadine Islands of Bequia and Union Island to mark the Easter celebrations. Traditionally these Islands have led with both on-shore and off-shore activities, particularly the Bequia Easter Regatta and the Union Island Easterval Celebrations.