At this year’s World Travel Market London, the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) is placing fresh emphasis on one of its most celebrated cultural offerings – the Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival.
The global travel event, held November 4-6, provides a timely platform for the SLTA to engage partners and preview the 2026 edition of the festival, scheduled for April 30 to May 10.
“Building on last year’s focus on community tourism, the 2025 feature is the world-renowned Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival,” says SLTA Public Relations Manager Geraine Georges.
She notes that the agency is hosting a preview event in London, bringing together over 40 media representatives, influencers, trade partners, diaspora members, and festival enthusiasts.
The showcase will offer a glimpse into the festival’s evolution, artistic diversity, and its role in reinforcing Saint Lucia’s cultural brand.
“This year we have brought special attention to our Jazz & Arts Festival, which will be exposed to the UK travelling public on Thursday… to highlight the festival as this unique travel opportunity for Saint Lucia,” says SLTA CEO Louis Lewis.
The delegation, led by SLTA Chairman Thaddeus M. Antoine, includes Board Director Thomas Leonce, CEO Louis Lewis, Director of Global Marketing Dexter Percil, Director for UK & Europe Patricia Charlery-Leon, Tourism Ambassador and World Champion sprinter Julien Alfred, and Geraine Georges.
Accommodation partners such as The Landings Resort and Spa, Harmony Marina Suites, Windjammer Landing, and Barefoot Holidays are also present, alongside performers Ronald Boo Hinkson and Christa.
Lewis says Saint Lucia is trending strongly among travel partners.
“That mirrors the sort of performance that we are doing with our load factors from the airline being strong as well as the occupancy ratios at our hotels being strong as well,” he says.
He emphasises the importance of building partnerships to keep Saint Lucia top of mind. “We continue to capitalise on [the festival] as a platform not just for driving visitors to Saint Lucia, but also some of the intrinsic benefits, such as giving our artisans an international platform to perform and that has done tremendously for deepening the benefits for tourism.”
While previous editions of WTM have featured lineup announcements, this year’s approach is more thematic. The SLTA will highlight the festival’s cultural depth, community jazz initiatives and artisan participation.
The rumblings on about jazz. Why didn’t the Tourist board invest in a proper stand where people could see and find St Lucia? For the past three years now the St Lucia stand is nothing but a pathetic ,tenebrous, dingy, gloomy and drab hovel that no one notices. It is placed near the corridors where people walk in without noticing. No one notices it nor do they care that it is there because of its shabbiness and lack of appeal. Whose idea was it to purchase such a squalid wickiup to represent the island?
Contrast this with the Dominican Republic which had a beautiful resplendent booth which was the talk of the Exhibition. Even Antigua and the Cayman islands had much better booths than St Lucia. I wonder what goes on in the minds of those moneyed men with many jobs and positions of power who are paid handsomely to look after the country’s tourism industry. After having to ask many people for directions in locating the booth or hovel I finally found it and there was no jazz in sight. All I could see were a few hangers-on who were mainly picking up the few brochures that was on sight. The minister was nowhere to be seen nor the other officials. How can that be representation?
I think Julian Alfred will soon move away from such ‘misery’ and who can blame her after all. The poor girl is presiding over an insalubrious freakshow which does not do her any justice as a world champion. This wretched hovel or shack that is perched in the doorway is an insult to the entire people of St Lucia and its larney tourist industry. They say that it is all about appearance but this is no appearance but rather a tumbledown cottage of grotesque proportions shockingly ugly and absurdly incongruous in shape or size. As a British-born St Lucian to say that I am appalled would be putting it mildly or an understatement. I think those responsible have taken significant leave of their senses. They have no clue about how to promote an industry that is so demanding. They say that you ought not to trust people in little things- If you cannot trust these officials with such a basic thing like getting a booth that truly represents the island then you ought not trust them in anything at all. Those responsible are not even fit to be sent on errands like Shakespeare once remarked in one of his plays. Poor St Lucia!
I could not agree more with you. I was also at the WTM on Tuesday and did not see any major players from the St Lucia tourist board in there. The stand or booth is in a place where you cannot find it. You have to be lucky to find the Lucian booth as it is not in the main halls- It is on a side. All that money that St Lucia is making from tourism and yet they cannot even get a good impressive booth. Shame on the powers who are responsible for organizing things… And they had the audacity to bring in our World champion to sit in this favela. Is this the way to treat a champion? I am very disappointed with the Tourist board. How can you represent our island in this manner? You can do better than that!
For years it has been like that with the tourist board. They hire people who are not from St Lucia to work with for the board. People who don’t have the country’s interests at heart. Most countries will hire people from their own countries to do their marketing for them but not St Lucia. There perverse decision not to hire Lucians to promote St Lucia abroad is not holding good for at all.
The people running the Board have other jobs and are raking in big bucks and should do better than that. They should be getting a better booth, something that visitors and exhibitors alike can talk about proudly… Something that stands out. What are they doing with the tourism dollars? They must be paying a fortune to travel in champagne first class showing off — Common folks uplift our splendid island.
correction: To work for the board***