Saint Lucia’s tourism officials are looking to court the UK’s adventurous consumers, while also building on the number of visitors travelling for romantic getaways.
The country wants to increase the number of UK visitors by 10,000 in the next year. Last year, 75,000 UK consumers visited the destination, and by the end of next year tourism bosses are looking to achieve 85,000.
Speaking to Travel Weekly, Louis Lewis, director of tourism for the Saint Lucia Tourist Board, said the country was keen to exceed the expectations of consumers.
“The UK is our second-largest market,” he said. “It is very important to us in terms of the number of people who visit the country.
“We see UK tourists as being adventurous and wanting to explore our destination which is really great.
“We are encouraging more of our visitors to explore our destination because it is great to show them what we have to offer and it also benefits the locals living in Saint Lucia.
“We are also looking to attract more tourists for soft adventure, for romantic trips.”
Lewis added that APD remained a problem for the destination as it seeks to increase its UK consumers, but added that new Thomas Cook flights from Manchester would help to attract more customers from the north of England.