It’s some of the exceptional tales of the yr in Caribbean tourism: St Vincent and the Grenadines’ record-breaking 2024, despite the crippling storms in July.
Certainly, the southern Caribbean archipelago noticed a 25 % improve in stayover arrivals final yr, in comparison with 2023 — and a 39 excellent enchancment over 2019, earlier than the onset of the pandemic.
Stayover arrivals topped 100,000 for the primary time ever, with a complete of 101,471 stayover guests by December.
So what’s the rationale for the entire vacation spot’s progress? It’s probably not a shock: it was the spring debut of the brand new Sandals St Vincent and the Grenadines, whose opening single-handedly put the twin-island vacation spot on the journey map in a brand new means.
For years, guests largely left out St Vincent, selecting boutique motels in smaller islands like Bequia, Mustique and Canouan.
However the debut of the 301-room resort (one that features a assortment of overwater villas) was a jolt of vitality into the vacation spot, one which attracted a wave of latest flights and gave it unprecedented publicity.
The brand new airlift included a serious route from New York on JetBlue, one which merely would by no means have occurred with out the entry of Sandals to the market.
We’ve known as it the “Sandals Impact,” and it’s one thing that’s been obvious in quite a few locations the place the resort firm entered for the primary time, from Curacao to Grenada.
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