October 13, 1997 -
Visitor arrivals for the period January to August 1997 increased by 31.0 percent to
373,325 compared with the same period of 1996 when the figure stood at 285,034. The total
number of cruise passengers to date is 67.8 percent above last year's corresponding
figures while stay over arrivals also reflected an improvement of 5.2 percent. The United
Kingdom, Canada and France were the major contributors to this growth for the period.
Cruise passenger arrivals continued to accelerate up to the end of August 1997. For the
period under review arrivals for that category advanced to 197,088.
The introduction of the "Inspiration" in may has had a pronounced positive
impact on arrivals particularly in the traditional off-season resulting in an average of
8,000 cruise visitors monthly.
In more tourism news the St. Lucia Tourist Board in collaboration with the National
Research and Development Foundation and the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College has
organized a second "Basic Dining Room Service" training course for restaurant
workers. The course is aimed at improving the skills of these dining room service
personnel.
The workshop forms part of the St. Lucia Tourist Board's education and training programme
and underscores the importance which the Board places on human resource development and
the improvement of quality service standards in the hospitality industry.
The course is being facilitated through the National Research and Development Foundation
and training will be provided by personnel from the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College's
Hospitality Studies Department. The St. Lucia Tourist Board has forwarded letters to
relevant restaurant urging them to take advantage of this opportunity.
