Saint Lucia harnesses AI tools after 18% fall in UK visitors

The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) has started using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to build a profile of its typical visitors following a drop in airlift from the UK.

 

The withdrawal of Virgin Atlantic and Tui services earlier this year contributed to an 18% fall in arrivals from the UK for the year to July compared with the same period last year.

 

British Airways is now the only carrier offering direct flights.

 

The SLTA has begun using a combination of social media, tailored marketing and AI tools to target potential visitors and promote the destination.

 

SLTA chief executive Louis Lewis said: “In response to the loss of airlift, we’re taking a very close look at why people are travelling.”

 

The AI tools create profiles of travellers interested in a range of holiday types in the Caribbean, including wellness, heritage, soft adventure, food and honeymoons.

 

The UK is the second-most important market for Saint Lucia in terms of visitor numbers.

 

Lewis said: “In the past year, arrivals are down 18% – but that has a clear explanation. We’ve lost two of the direct flights from the UK to Saint Lucia.”

 

He added: “We’ve moved from largely three-star properties into four and five-star hotels, and those two airlines [Virgin Atlantic and Tui] have found it difficult to operate within that market.”

 

There has been a particular drop-off in the number of visitors aged under 45, he noted.

 

“We understand what [a traveller’s] age profile is, their preferences, where they access information, what they do for recreation – such as where they go for holidays – right down to the material they read,” he said.

 

“What we are doing is utilising that profile to get access to them, and then to present [holiday] options that are available in Saint Lucia, allowing them to customise a visit to the island. And then, of course, turn what we consider as a looker into a booker.”

 

Lewis also revealed 1,000 hotel rooms would open in Saint Lucia in the next 18 months, equivalent to 25% of the existing hotel stock.