New tourism fee to improve destination management
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
by GIS
THE FEE WILL SUPPORT VILLAGE TOURISM AND LOCAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT.

Following consultations with stakeholders in the tourism industry, Government will be introducing a Tourist Accommodation Fee to be used for destination marketing and development.

As of April 1, 2020, stayover visitors to Saint Lucia will be required to pay an accommodation fee on their nightly stay on the island. The fees will be paid by the stayover visitor and collected by accommodation providers who will remit the fees collected to government, via the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority.

Prime Minister Hon. Allen Chastanet said the accommodation fee will be used to finance destination marketing activities undertaken by the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) as it promotes Saint Lucia’s tourism product worldwide.

All accommodation providers on the island (hotels, guest houses, villas, apartments) will be required to collect from stayover guests US$3 and US$6 respectively on a nightly rate below or above US$120. Guests at accommodation services sourced through sharing platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO will be subject to an accommodation fee of seven percent on the full cost of stay. The fee will also be used to support village tourism development, and destination management and development of the local product in Saint Lucia.