By the Caribbean Journal staff

Saint Lucia’s tourism industry had another record-setting year in 2018, according to a new report from the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority.

The destination reported a total of 1,218,294 visitors in 2018, a 10.2 percent increase over 2017.

The combined total was buoyed by a 13.6 percent increase in cruise passenger arrivals, thanks to the expansion at the Pointe Seraphine cruise berth in Castries.

That coincided with a 26.7 percent increase in yacht arrivals, while stayover arrivals rose by 2.2 percent to 394,780 in the calendar year.

The latter included growth of 4.1 percent in the United States market and 4.9 percent growth in the United Kingdom market, balanced against a 5.9 percent reduction from Canada due in large part due to reduced frequencies on WestJet.

So far, the projections for 2019 look good, officials said, with Virgin Holidays, for example, reporting 27.9 percent growth over last year.

“The SLTA is angling for greater growth in 2019, and will continue with its aggressive, targeted marketing campaigns to attract even more visitors to the destination,” the authority said in a statement.

— CJ