Tourism officials are forecasting huge developments for the sector in 2024, while reflecting on numbers which made 2023 a formidable year.

In his first press conference of the year, Minister for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information, Hon. Dr. Ernest Hilaire, said that among the stand out accomplishments for 2023 was the return of the Jazz and Arts Festival and Lucian Carnival. These events brought in patrons which surpassed stayover arrivals for the previous year. According to the minister all travel markets contributed to growth.

“By the end of November, arrivals from the US was already 8 percent higher than the figure recorded in 2019, which was our highest on record and figures expected to be on par with that of 2022 which in fact were the highest since 2019. The Canadian market made a resounding comeback this year. You'll recall Canada was the last market to open up after COVID, but by the end of November 2023 arrivals already surpassed that of 2022 by 93 percent,” he said. 

The Caribbean also contributed to the increased numbers of visitors. Dr. Hilaire asserts that by November 2023, Caribbean arrivals had surpassed 2022 figures by more than 50 percent.

Despite challenges of varied air lift in 2023, most notably from the US and UK markets, the projection is for increased flights into the country, this year. This forecast comes amidst new opportunities.

“I spoke of some of the increases we saw last year but it's going to be even better in the summer of 2024. JetBlue, a trusted partner in promoting tourism to Saint Lucia is set to launch once again new double daily flights from John F Kennedy International Airport to Hewanorra International Airport and vice versa. The late night flight will depart Hewanorra at midnight, allowing visitors to the make the most of the last day on the island. The aircraft for this flight will be a 162-seater, which provides ample capacity to meet the demand of the peak summer season.”

New hotel investments are expected to come on stream this year, including Destination by Hyatt at Cas-en-Bas, and the 334-room Secrets Resorts at Choc Bay. The island als hosted the largest cruise vessel, Avia, in 2023 with a capacity of nearly 7000. This year it’s expected that 650,000 cruise visitors will visit the island.

One of the stand out accomplishments of the 2023 tourism calendar was the successful return of the Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts festival. While keeping secret this year’s line-up Chairman of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Thaddeus Antoine, said Saint Lucians should get ready to be blown away.

“This year we aspire to set new standards in the realms of jazz, arts and entertainment with the vision of ensuring the festival is even more sustainable. We encourage each one of you to actively engage in the media launch to share your excitement your expectations and your love for the festival on social media platforms. Let's make this a movement that resonates across the digital landscape,” he said.

The stellar line up will be revealed at a media launch on January 17.