(PRESS RELEASE) — Saint Lucia continues to recognize growth in tourism arrivals in 2019. For the five-month period, January to May, the island recorded 185,568 stay-over arrivals, 6.1% more than the same period last year, which makes this the largest number of stay-over arrivals ever recorded in the island’s history.
In the first quarter of the year, increases of 24.8% and 2.2% were noted in the UK and US markets respectively, whilst arrivals from Germany increased 6% and visitors from the rest of the world, 6.3%.
Double-digit growth (13.1%) was recorded for the first time this year in April, owing largely to the various activities held here for Easter. The Caribbean market stood out especially, for having the largest percentage (50.5%), as well as real growth (2,793 additional arrivals) in any market.
The month of May was abuzz with activities, including the staging of Saint Lucia Jazz in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center, regional workshops, and visible consistency in airlift, especially from the Caribbean region. These all resulted in a total of 34,354 visitor arrivals, 6.4% more than the previous year.
2019 therefore, is already poised to become one of, if not the best year for visitor arrivals, as the months of January, February, April, and May have all broken the records for the largest number of arrivals ever recorded for these specific months.
The summer months of June to September bring just as much promise, as the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) anticipates further records in tourism arrivals with the staging of Saint Lucia Carnival, Mercury Fest, and Saint Lucia Roots and Soul.
The SLTA is forging ahead with efforts to position the island as the experiential destination of choice for romance, adventure, dive, health and wellness, family, culinary, and meetings, incentives, conferences, and events while increasing visibility, especially in the major source markets.
