The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) is ramping up efforts to position the island as a premier Caribbean destination for sports tourism, aiming to attract regional and international events that drive visitor arrivals and economic growth.
At a recent strategic workshop, the SLTA outlined its vision to collaborate with national sporting bodies, enhance event execution and leverage high-profile athletes like Olympic champion Julien Alfred to boost global visibility.
Under the tagline Play Saint Lucia, the SLTA is working with federations such as Veterans in Sports, the Saint Lucia Aquatics Federation, the Saint Lucia Golf Association and the Saint Lucia Rugby Football Union to develop sporting events that fill hotel rooms and stimulate local businesses.
“For us, part of our strategy and objective is visitor arrivals,” said SLTA Global Marketing Director Dexter Percil. “We can work with them in ensuring that the programme that they have is one that we can work with, that’s exportable.”
Percil highlighted the success of events like the Goodwill Swimming Championships, which brought hundreds of Caribbean visitors for over a week, filling accommodations and generating spillover benefits for the food, beverage, and transport sectors.
The SLTA evaluates potential events based on key metrics. “For example, the number of persons coming in, room nights, and we have a formula we use to calculate our return on investment,” he said. “So, it’s very strategic in terms of what we do and how we do it.”
Beyond competitions, the authority is capitalising on athlete branding, with Julien Alfred prominently displaying the SLTA logo during Diamond League broadcasts beamed to millions of viewers in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Sport is a platform to showcase the destination, Percil emphasised, suggesting that national teams travelling abroad could further amplify Saint Lucia’s profile.
Clivus Jules, director of Sports in the Ministry of Youth Development & Sports, praised the workshop as “an excellent activity”, noting that the SLTA’s support will elevate event management and delivery.
Meanwhile, golf officials are already ahead of the curve. Dwayne King, public relations officer for the Saint Lucia Golf Association, revealed their “Come For Golf, Stay For Jazz” slogan and plans to attract higher-ranked players for the 2026 Saint Lucia Open.
Earlier this year, the tournament was relaunched after a long absence. Despite a short preparation period, it was deemed a success, with a handful of regional and international professionals coming to compete during the Saint Lucia Jazz season.
The absence of the athletics association from Thursday’s workshop seemed an oversight, but most of the other main federations were represented, including football, cricket, tennis, rugby, bodybuilding and boxing.
With boxing, rugby and bodybuilding set to host regional championships in the coming months, the SLTA is also exploring creating its own events, such as road races, cycling events, motocross, open-water swimming, beach volleyball and triathlons, to fill low-season gaps.
