Tourism Minister Calls for New and Sharper Marketing Techniques

Contact: Julita Peter

Friday, May 19, 2000 – St. Lucia’s Tourism Minister, Honourable Menissa Rambally, says sustained growth of the island’s tourism industry can only be guaranteed if the tourism product is in sync with what is being marketed.  Speaking during the recent sitting of the Saint Lucia House of Assembly, the minister said her ministry intends to work very closely with all the tourism sub-sectors for the success of the industry.

According to Miss Rambally, the Ministry of Tourism intends to launch a programme aimed at making the arts and crafts a better organized sub sector within the industry, thereby increasing visitor spending. "We intend to register them and to put in place developmental programmes that will assist them as small businesspersons to improve the quality of service and the quality of product that they offer; and this is again matching our product to visitor expectation. It is part of a wider plan; it is part of the vision that we have for the industry. The programme for arts and crafts vendors will be facilitated by the Ministry of Commerce through the Small Enterprise Development Unit," she said.

The Tourism Minister also emphasized the need for a new image for St. Lucia in the market place. She adds that stakeholders in the industry must begin to look at the opportunities for finding more creative ways to forge ahead for the growth of the industry. Miss Rambally says the theme of this year’s budget is "Strengthening, Modernizing and Repositioning the Economy", and the tourism sector needs to adopt it and look at where the industry is and where it needs to go.

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