The race is on to get tourism sites ready for new season

The level of damage as a result of the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2024, will see some tourism sites not being ready for the opening of the cruise season in November.

Word of this came from the Minister of Tourism, Carlos James, at a September 25, press conference ahead of what is predicted to be another record year of cruise calls to St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

While the category four hurricane lashed some areas on mainland St Vincent, there was wide-spread devastation in the Southern Grenadines as tourism accommodations in Mayreau and Union Island were destroyed, while Canouan suffered extensive damage to the roof of the largest hotels on the island.

“What a lot of people might not have been aware of is that our Botanic Gardens, the oldest of the Western Hemisphere, was also severely impacted by the passage of Hurricane Beryl,” Minister James added.

He also revealed that repairs to the boardwalk at Villa Beach encountered setbacks as a result of the hurricane. The boardwalk has been a source of contention for beach goers, both local and tourists for some time after falling into a serious state of disrepair. James said while the work may not be completed until sometime in 2025, the ministry is seeking to prepare new sites for tourists, including the Argyle Petroglyph Park and an Eco-Park in Richmond.

“Phase two of the Villa project was further compromised during Beryl and I know we have looked at having that project completed- we are going to start some work on that within a matter of weeks to ensure that we are ready to accommodate persons who are accessing Villa Beach in the season,” he promised.

“National Parks [Rivers and Beaches Authority] is rapidly advancing the work. Some of the work continues and will go over into next year, but definitely, we have started looking at new sites that we can build out, including the Petroglyph Park at Argyle which we also have to do some work on.”

The minister noted that Parliament approved $1.5 million in the Supplementary Estimates for the rehabilitation and improvement of tourist sites.

“This is specifically to sites, not in relation to hotels or stakeholders- specifically sites. What we will see this year is some additional sites being added, particularly in the North-western side of St Vincent and the Grenadines. There is a Richmond Eco-Park that we are hoping to build out before the end of the year. We are going to see additional resources pumped into places like Dark View Falls, a massage station is going to be installed, vending stalls, new signage to get the sites to a particular standard.”

Minister James described it as a “challenging time” for tourism stakeholders and consultations sessions, which started after the hurricane and continue at present, have highlighted the scale of work needed to get the country’s tourism product back on its feet.

“… currently, we are working along with various stakeholders within the government, particularly the Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Grenadines Affairs to see how we can get our stakeholders up and running in time for the upcoming cruise season.”

James said figures for the total economic loss to the sector as a result of Beryl are still being gathered. Damage assessments were done at the local level as well as with assistance from the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).