Minister of Tourism Carlos James is urging hoteliers in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to keep their properties open all year.
“Tourism in St. Vincent is no longer seasonal and I want to make that declaration here now; we’re not doing seasonal tourism,” he told a press conference in Villa on Monday.
“We’re doing year-round tourism and we’re supporting year-round tourism with having flights throughout the entire year from every source market,” James said.
“So, it means that hotels have to stay open, and in order for hotels to be filled, you have to work with the vacation partners for the airlines. Don’t avoid it, because it is important for us to have the numbers come in, but at the same time have heads in beds. And for us to do that, it will mean that your hotels have to remain open, and you have to want to accept business.”
The minister announced that beginning this month, Air Canada will add flights from Toronto.
The airline will fly to St. Vincent on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays through April.
“We will see an increase in its winter schedule … from Oct. 27 to go back to, you know, ramping up their flights. But from May of this year, we will continue to see year-round service to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
James said that around the time that he became minister of tourism in November 2020, Air Canada will fly to St. Vincent only during the winter season.
“I said, ‘No. We have to change that.’ In fact, when we approached them at the very outset, they found all the excuses.
“They’re good, good friends of ours now. They said, ‘Well, we’re short on equipment. We’re short on crew.’ I said, ‘Listen, the product I’m building out, we need year-round service to the destination.’
“And I’m happy to say consistently, they have been working with us, supporting us, and ensuring that we’re able to get year-round service to the destination out of Canada,” James said.
He said that the country’s directors of sales are doing tremendous work, adding that with the tensions between Ottawa and Washington, DC, more Canadian travellers are likely to vacation elsewhere.
“… I’m telling you, there’s going to be a big demand coming out of Canada. With a lot of geopolitical tensions between the US, Canadians are going to want to go to other markets to vacation. So we have to look at all of these things,” James said.
The tourism minister said he is hoping that SVG can move into the Latin American market in a more aggressive way “and see how we can also get a lot more visitors coming from south up to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“And it is something that is attainable. And I’m closely looking at those dynamics,” James said.
James was speaking after returning from Germany, where he received the “Tourism Minister of the Year” Award at the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association International Travel Awards 2025 in Berlin.
He told the press conference that SVG is engaged in “sustainable tourism, with the advantage of linkages to other sectors”.
James said the economic implication of that is far-reaching in a positive way.
“And we’re not doing mass tourism,” he said, adding that Sandals Resort is at 90% occupancy.
“And the point I’m making with that is they’re paying their bills, and they’re making revenue, but they don’t have a million people,” he said of the 300-room hotel.
“And if we get more hotels that are within that range, 250, 350 rooms, and we can spread them across the mainland and in the Grenadines, and we remain consistent with that, and we work with travel advisors — and I want to again appeal to the hoteliers.
“There’s this notion of the traditional way of doing business within tourism, where you shut your hotels at a certain period. Yes, you have to shut for repairs and so on. But there are those who consistently shut and say, ‘Well, you know, business is slow, I’m going to shut down and open up during the height of the season.’ We have to move away from that.”