A series of stakeholder engagements in the tourism sector are set to be launched here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
According to Minister of Tourism Carlos James the aim of these engagements will be to prepare persons for the upcoming boom in tourism, as well as make stakeholders aware of opportunities that are available to them.
“In a few weeks we begin the process of our national engagement on the transformation of our tourism sector and I’m encouraging all of the stakeholders; the hotel association, the taxi association, all of the different service sectors to partner with us to ensure that we can take the message out to everyone in every community,” he said.
Minister James noted that the primary focus of the engagements on the mainland would be eco-tourism, adventure tourism, community based tourism, services, training opportunities within the sector.
The Tourism Minister said that these consultations will also serve to inform persons on how they can gain access to concessions, saying that many are not aware that these concessions are available to them.
Minister James emphasized the importance of having these engagements take place, so that there may be greater support for persons within the sector going forward.
He said these engagements will last up until the end of this year and that all the discussions that take place will play a part in formulating a new policy framework.