CASTRIES, St. Lucia – St. Lucia’s Acting Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre says the return of the Carnival Destiny to Port Castries “will bring with it significant potential benefits” for the island’s taxi drivers and vendors, who should “brace for the opportunities” after long clamoring for its return to Saint Lucia.
Mr. Pierre also says the cruise sector “is poised to significantly improve” in the current financial year over that of the year just ended.
The Acting Prime Minister, who is also Tourism Minister, announced last week that Carnival Destiny, a 2,642 passenger cruise liner, will on January 7, 2007 launch a new Caribbean schedule from Puerto Rico, with Saint Lucia among the five new Caribbean stops.
Mr. Pierre said the 101,353-tonne mega-ship, which calls at several tropical destinations with high-spending passengers, will spend an entire day in Saint Lucia.
During that time, he said, over 2,642 visitors will have an opportunity to visit various locations around the island by taxi and purchase local souvenirs from vendors in Castries and beyond.
Carnival Cruise Lines is the world’s largest cruise line and Saint Lucia was dropped from its schedule following the company’s post-September 11, 2001 destination reviews.
Spurred by calls from local taxi drivers, vendors and other tourism operators, Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony and Mr. Pierre led a delegation to Florida late last year to negotiate a return of the “fun ships” to Saint Lucia.
Following the meeting with Carnival’s chief executives, the minister said on his return home the prospects “sound and look good”.
In a press release last month announcing the return of Carnival Destiny to Port Castries, Jill Potash, Carnival’s Business Development Manager, said she was “excited” about the change in the itinerary to include Saint Lucia and Antigua.
Ms. Potash described Saint Lucia as the “Crown Jewel of the Windward Islands”.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Minister says “there are already clear signs” that 2006 will see a substantial increase in cruise tourism.
According to Mr. Pierre, “baring unforeseen circumstances, projections are that cruise calls will increase by over 25% during the year, following a slump in the numbers last year.”
