minister of tourism st vincent and the grenadines

• Tour Operators
• Destinations
• Hotels & Resorts
• Digital Edition Spring 2024
• Digital Edition Fall 2023
• Travel Webcast
• Agents' Choice Gala
• Suppliers Kit
• Canadian Travel Press
• Travel Courier
• Offshore Travel Magazine
• Culinary Travels

St. Vincent And The Grenadines Ready For 2024

October 17, 2023

St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Sustainable Development and Culture, Hon. Carlos James will make his first official visit to Canada as Minister from Oct. 14 to Oct. 17, 2023.

His visit comes following the announcement by Sandals Resorts International of the opening of 18th resort in the Caribbean at Buccament Bay, St. Vincent on March 27, 2024.

Minister James welcomed the news of this prestigious brand in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and anticipates increased visitors from an already significant Canadian market.

“We welcome Sandals to our list of ultra-luxury and exclusive offerings, and this will add significant value to our tourism product,” Minister James said.

He continued: “Canadians have shown great confidence in our destination, and this is evidenced by year over year increases in visitor arrivals from Canada. My visit here will give me better insight into how we can improve our offerings, following meetings with various players in the travel trade and media and airline officials.”

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is on the cusp of an exciting 2024. In addition to the 300-room Sandals property, a 93-room Holiday Inn Express is scheduled to also open in the coming year just in time for the announcement that St. Vincent and the Grenadines will host five matches of the International Cricket Council (ICC) championship in June 2024.

Minister James said, “St. Vincent and the Grenadines, known for its high-end exclusive luxury offerings on the Grenadine islands of Mustique and Canouan, is now opening its mainland, St. Vincent, as a major tourism hub.”

The SVG Tourism Minister will be attending the first of four Road Show events in Canada’s capital city Ottawa, hosted by the SVG Tourism Office here in Canada. He will meet travel advisors at a special event and update them on his country’s plans for tourism moving forward. He will also meet the Travel and Diaspora media in Toronto that week to discuss various matters of interest to the Canadian market.

Go to www.discoversvg.com for more.

Canadian advisors return from G Adventures FAM to Thailand

WestJet welcomes first flight from Edmonton to Atlanta

Visitors spent about $500m in SVG in 2023 — Tourism Minister

Preliminary estimates show that visitors spent EC$500 million in St. Vincent and the Grenadines last year, Minister of Tourism Carlos James said in his State of the Tourism Industry Address.

The address came two weeks after the minister and some of his other colleagues failed to debate the EC$1.6 billion budget that Parliament approved this year,  after a premature end to the debate . 

“Very often we are critical of our tourism product, the hard-working stakeholders and staff within the various ministries and statutory bodies. But numbers tell a different story,” James said during the speech in Kingstown on Tuesday.

“For the very first time in our economy, preliminary estimates are showing that our total visitor expenditure for 2023 will surpass half a billion Eastern Caribbean dollars. This has never been reached in the history of tourism and St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” James said.

He mentioned Sandals and Holiday Inn Express, both of which are expected to begin operating in St. Vincent this year, with Sandals slated to open in March.

“And I want to give credit to the hard work of all of the stakeholders, our traditional hoteliers, taxi operators, marine operators, cruise agents, the Tourism Authority, and the Ministry of Tourism for their hard work in attaining these numbers…”

James said that coupled with other expected hotel projects and increased airlift, the outlook for the tourism industry in SVG is “buoyant.

“We promised to deliver over 1,000 jobs to Vincentians and we’re doing that with the opening of Sandals this year.

James said the projections are that total arrivals in 2024 will surpass 2019 — pre-pandemic — levels by 77.1%.

“The country also stands to benefit from the hosting of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, a rebranded Vincymas, and the introduction of SVG’ very first music festival and other events for 2024,” James said. 

SVG will no longer be marketed under the slogan ‘Discover St. Vincent and the Grenadines”. The new mantra is “Experience St. Vincent and the Grenadines”.

James is also minister of civil aviation, sustainable development and culture.

He asked his staff for patience, saying, “Let us go through that restructuring process in the various ministries and departments that are under my portfolio, be patient with me about it.

“Because what I want to see are the best available minds working in tourism. It deserves that attention. It deserves quality staff. It deserves quality product offering. It deserves better improvements to sites and it deserves an improved cultural landscape where we can celebrate our talents, or fashion or creativity and our food, which is our gastronomy.”

He said SVG “is the Caribbean everyone is talking about at this moment.

Share this:

One reply on “visitors spent about $500m in svg in 2023 — tourism minister”.

about , lol. Liars part is ‘n hell

Comments closed.

Faylene King appointed as Director of Tourism for St Vincent

Director of Tourism appointed within the Ministry of Tourism in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Mrs. Faylene King has been appointed as Director of Tourism by the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Sustainable Development, and Culture.Mrs. King returns to the Ministry to help develop capacity as the industry continues to transform and grow in the face of extraordinary challenges in recent years.

The newly appointed Director of Tourism was formerly Tourism Planner and Communications Manager, at the Ministry of Tourism and Culture from 2001-2004 and 2004-2009, respectively. Mrs. King re-enters the Ministry with a fount of knowledge. She is an educated and experienced professional in the fields of media and communication, tourism planning and development, tourism management and general administration. She holds a Master’s of Science degree in Tourism Management from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom.

Prior to her appointment as Director of Tourism, Mrs. King served as Chief Operating Officer at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Tourism Authority from 2009 to 2023.

“The appointment of the Director of Tourism is part of our ministry’s institutional strengthening in the area of tourism policy and planning as we develop the supporting policy framework for the transformation of our tourism industry,” said Honourable Carlos James, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Sustainable Development and Culture.

“We are pleased to welcome Faylene to this new post, she is no stranger to the ministry and by extension our tourism industry. Her experience will add-value to our broader policy focus on tourism planning going forward. It is going to be an exciting period for our tourism industry and we are preparing to capitalise on the developments taking place within the sector,” Minister James said.

Discover more from St Vincent Times

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

• Breaking News
• Press Release
• Special Features
• From the Courts
• Regional / World
• Our Readers’ Opinions
• Bassy – Love Vine
• Dr. Fraser- Point of View
• R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
• Dr Jozelle Miller
• The World Around Us
• Random Thoughts
• Kitchen Corner
• What’s on Fleek this week
• Health Wise
• Physician’s Weekly
• Business Buzz
• Prime the pump
• In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
• Advertise With Us
• Letters To The Editor
• General Contact Information
• Contact our Webmaster
• Interactive Media Ltd
• St. Vincent & the Grenadines

The St Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority (SVGTA) has officially begun the hiring process for a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

This action comes as a result of the resignation of the former CEO, Glen Beache who announced his intention to depart the organization in early August.

Glen Beache, CEO of the SVG Tourism Authority

His official date of resignation had been set for September 8 and Beache has since taken up the position of Chief Executive Officer at Invest SVG.

Minister of Tourism Carlos James told members of the media at a press conference that the position is to be advertised as of Monday, September 18, 2023.

“As of today I have advised the Board of the Tourism Authority to commence the recruitment process of hiring a new CEO. This will take an extended period of a few weeks leading into a few months but as of today they have been informed…”

Beache served at the helm of the Tourism Authority for 13 years.

“… I am sure that the HR committee of the Board looked at how we can move forward in the direction of recruiting the most suitable person to fill the post of the CEO of SVG Tourism Authority, “ Minister James told reporters.

The SVGTA is tasked with promoting the country as a tourist destination as well developing standards and regulating the quality of the local tourism service providers.

• Interactive Media Ltd. • P.O. Box 152 • Kingstown • St. Vincent and the Grenadines • Phone: 784-456-1558 © Copyright Interactive Media Ltd.. All rights reserved.

SVG Tourism Authority to Restructure & Recruit New CEO

The hunt for a new Chief Executive Officer of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Tourism Authority (SVGTA) has commenced. Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Sustainable Development and Culture, Hon. Carlos James, made the disclosure at a press briefing at the National Insurance Services (NIS) conference room Kingstown on Monday, September 18th, 2023. James said he has also advised the Board of the Tourism Authority to engage the services SkyGate Consultancy Group, headed by local corporate consultant Joel Providence, to conduct an operational assessment of the Authority, including an evaluation of its organisational culture, productivity and its efficiency. The consultants, Minister James said, are human resource specialists, brand and marketing strategists and management specialists, who will work with a transition team to provide the restructuring that is needed at the Authority, including assisting with the recruitment of the new SVGTA head. “We have recalled all overseas senior sales team members in Canada, UK and the US, they will be engaged with the consultants over the next few days in terms of our assessment of the operations of the Authority,” Minister James said. According to the tourism minister, “our country is at a critical stage in our tourism development, which requires an evaluation as to where we are in relation to our approach to marketing of the destination. We have some hard-working people at the Authority, but I think it is only fair for us to assess the existing organisational structure.” In the interim, Avanell DaSilva, the Authority’s quality development manager, is in administrative control of the SVGTA

Related Posts

Sandals trains in preparation for the future, the age of consent … so much talk and no action., ulp view: revolutionising land and property transactions, according to findlay, sandals played a crucial role in making the hosting of icc t20 possible..

Comments are closed.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.