SVG Gearing Up For 2021 Peak Season

With the 2021 peak tourism season in St. Vincent and Grenadines (SVG) set to begin Aug. 7, when the first cruise ship – the Seabourn Odyssey – of the season docks in Port Elizabeth, Bequia, there will be lots of celebrating.

Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Carlos James reports that 224 cruise ships are expected to call at the various ports throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the upcoming months.

The Minister stressed, however, that this number may increase or can be negatively affected due to the fluidity of the global impacts from the pandemic.

He also indicated that all cruise calls will operate in bubbles with fully vaccinated service providers.

And made it clear that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is delighted to welcome its very first vessel to the destination since 2020, noting that 14 of the scheduled cruise calls will be inaugural calls to the destination.

Minister James said he was elated that Virgin Atlantic will commence non-stop flights to the destination on Oct. 15, 2021. And in November 2020, the airline will be launching the first flight from Europe to St. Vincent with a new service to Argyle International Airport departing from London Heathrow.

According to Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic: “We look forward to launching this new service to St. Vincent, welcoming customers onboard heading off on holiday or travelling to visit their loved ones.”

The twice-weekly service, will operate on the airline’s A330-300 aircraft boasting 31 upper class, 48 premium and 185 economy delight, classic and light seats.

Air Canada, which has been operating an SVG route since 2017, will resume flights to St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Nov. 1 2021, having suspended its service when the Canadian borders closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. American Airlines will also resume its mid-week service on October 13 giving travellers an option to its Saturday service; both flights operate out of the Miami International Airport.

The destination has implemented several protocols for arriving passengers including Tourism Approved “Safe Zones,” which are serviced by fully vaccinated tourism service providers.

All fully vaccinated visitors arriving by air will only be required to quarantine for 48 hours in a “Tourism Approved” property while quarantine periods for unvaccinated visitors range from seven to 21 days, depending on the origin of the traveller.

Minister James is of the view that the upcoming tourism season is one to celebrate given the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well by the eruption of La Soufrière volcano in April 2021.

For more, go to www.gov.vc .