32,110 visitors to the Eastern Caribbean island in March

A strong rebound is taking place in tourism in St Lucia, which in March recorded the highest month in visitor arrivals since the island reopened back in 2020.

St Lucia, which was one of the first Caribbean destinations to reopen amid the pandemic, saw a total of 32,110 visitors to the Eastern Caribbean island in March. According to data from the St Lucia Tourism Authority, this was 21 per cent higher than forecasted.

For the first quarter of 2022, the island has reported 80,811 arrivals, marking what the St Lucia Tourism Authority called a “strong start to the year”.

The data highlighted that Americans continue to dominate the island’s tourism numbers with the US market accounting for around 56.2 per cent of stayover arrivals so far this year.

UK visitors exceed pre-pandemic levels

Next was the United Kingdom, which accounted for 30.3 per cent of stayover arrivals in the first three months of the year. In fact, this was the highest share of UK arrivals to the island – even before the pandemic. 

Canadians accounted for around six per cent of arrivals.

CEO of the St Lucia Tourism Authority Lorine Charles St Jules reports that, “the revitalisation of Lucian Carnival is one of our priority events this year and we will continue to promote our strong niche offerings such as romance, diving, accommodations, and adventure with some exciting plans for the rest of the year”.

Charles St Jules recently took over as CEO from Beverly Nicholson-Doty. 

St Lucia recently eased its entry protocols for travelers, waiving testing for all fully vaccinated travelers. 

Unvaccinated travelers five and older must continue to show proof of a negative PCR test within five days before arrival.