St. Vincent and the Grenadines continues to implement measures to accommodate a record 44 per cent increase in cruise arrivals, this includes adequate transportation. On December 16th, 2022, one of the larger cruise vessels accommodating 5, 430 passengers will be coming to Port Kingstown.
Minister of Tourism, Hon. Carlos James told the API in an exclusive interview, that this means there will likely be a disruption in the public transportation system as more vehicles will be needed to transport tourists. “Public transportation is likely to be affected, all of major transportation system will be disrupted, it is going to be a challenge and I want to indicate that very early,” James indicated.
Though there are challenges in terms of the size of the current port, the Minister said “St Vincent and the Grenadines is one of the preferred destinations for cruise tourism.” In addition to this increase in tourists by sea, as of December 20th, 2022 more weekly international flights are scheduled at the Argyle International Airport.
The Tourism Minister said that Air Canada will now have three (3) scheduled flights per week flying while American Airlines will move to daily flights in March of 2023.
James added that while Virgin Atlantic has not increased their number of flights, they will now have a larger aircraft in the form of the 7879-dream liner.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines has and continues to have direct flights out of Toronto, Miami, New York, and London.