Saint Lucia’s Minister for Tourism, Information and Broadcasting, Culture and Creative Industries, Hon. Dominic Fedee, noted that the tourism sector continues to grow.

According to the latest tourism figures, Saint Lucia saw a seven percent increase with over 400,000 stay over arrivals for 2019.

The minister expressed gratitude to tourism industry workers for their continued efforts in making Saint Lucia one of the world’s leading destinations.

“It is quite an extraordinary year that we have had and really I am full of gratitude,” he said. “Thank you for your outstanding contribution to our sector.”

Minister Fedee stated that the government has been placing a greater focus on investing in local businesses. The minister also explained that with these new opportunities arising, local participation has been growing faster than foreign investment.

The Ministry of Tourism is also working with the OECS to improve business and traffic flow in and around the city of Castries which accommodates the majority of cruise arrivals.

“Tourism should not disrupt the lives of local citizens so we want to reduce traffic congestion as much as possible,” he said.

With a year-to-date increase of 5 percent in November of 2019, the total tourism arrivals for 2019 is estimated to be approximately 1.3 million.