Event highlights Saint Lucia’s commitment to Canadian market

The recent Showcase North America conference at Sandals Grande St. Lucian in Saint Lucia highlighted the destination’s commitment to strengthening the tourism sector for both sellers and buyers from the Canadian market.

The event brought together the destination’s key travel industry organizations along with wholesale and tour operator partners from Canada and the US. Delegates – including 26 buyers from North America – met with 33 Saint Lucia sellers from the local tourism and accommodations sector, including villas, Destination Management Companies and attractions over one-on-one meetings.

“This year’s Showcase North America was laser-focused on building business for our tourism partners, and refreshing the strategies we utilize to sell the destination,” said CEO of Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Lorine Charles-St. Jules. “There was a strong interactive focus on current trends like Artificial Intelligence, sustainability, direct selling and targeted digital marketing, which especially amplified exposure for our smaller on-island tourism companies. Given the increase in the shared economy products in Saint Lucia, we also provided opportunities for stakeholders to strengthen their proactive and reactive marketing.”

Showcase is the premier business-to-business event for hotels, attractions, tours, Destination Management Companies and industry stakeholders in Saint Lucia. The five-day event of engagement and product immersions was themed to refresh and re-tool the travel industry in Saint Lucia for resilience, specifically to benefit small operators of accommodations, attractions, restaurants and other tourism-related companies.

The conference blended meetings with an on-island itinerary that immersed guests in experiences that build product knowledge. Activities showcased Saint Lucia by land and sea, as delegates explored Saint Lucia by boat, visited the signature Pitons, enjoyed the sulphur springs mud baths and more.

In addition, the Inspiro Awards were given by Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, recognizing leading wholesalers and milestones from the past year, including:

• Best Canadian Tour Operator Campaign Promoting Saint Lucia – WestJet Vacations
• Top Growth Producing Traditional Canadian Tour Operator – Air Canada Vacations
• Top Revenue Contributing Canadian Tour Operator – Air Canada Vacations
• Canadian Tour Operator with the most Growth in Room Nights for 2022 – Air Canada
• Product Manager of the year – Michelle Gay, American Airlines Vacations
• Top Revenue Contributing US Tour Operator – Classic Vacations
• Top Growth Producing Traditional US Tour Operator – Apple Leisure Group
• Best U.S. Tour Operator Campaign Promoting Saint Lucia – Delta Vacations
• Tour Operator with most Growth in Revenue for weddings and Honeymoons – Classic Vacations
• US Tour Operator with the most Growth in Room Nights for 2022 – Vacation Express

For more information about Saint Lucia Showcase North America, go to www.stlucia.org or contact [email protected].