Re-tooling for resilience: 2023 Saint Lucia showcase North America strengthens tourism sector
CASTRIES, SAINT LUCIA – Highlighting Saint Lucia’s commitment to strengthening the tourism sector for both sellers and buyers, the 2023 Showcase North America conference was hosted at Sandals Grands St. Lucian from July 6-10. The event brought together the destination’s key travel industry organizations along with wholesale and tour operator partners from the U.S. and Canada. Delegates – including 26 buyers from North America and – met one-on-one with 33 Saint Lucia sellers from local tourism and accommodations sector, including villas, Destination Management Companies and attractions.
“This year’s Showcase North America was laser-focused on building business for our tourism partners, and refreshing the strategies we utilize to sell the destination. There was a strong interactive focus on current trends like Artificial Intelligence, sustainability, direct selling and targeted digital marketing, which especially amplified exposure for our smaller on-island tourism companies,” said CEO of Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Lorine Charles-St. Jules. “Given the increase in the shared economy products in Saint Lucia, we also provided opportunities for stakeholders to strengthen their proactive and reactive marketing.”
Showcase is the premier business-to-business event for hotels, attractions, tours, Destination Management Companies and industry stakeholders in Saint Lucia. The five-day event of engagement and product immersions was themed to refresh and re-tool the travel industry in Saint Lucia for resilience, specifically to benefit small operators of accommodations, attractions, restaurants and other tourism-related companies.
A highlight of the conference was a keynote address by Seth Borko of Skift, discussing compelling trends and data affecting the travel industry. Delegates and the local industry participated in interactive workshops about short-term rental insights, the use of Artificial Intelligence in travel, sustainability trends and social media. Speakers included: Danny Cohanpour and Charlotte Slater of Trove Tourism Development Advisors; Sanovnik Destang of Bay Gardens Resorts; Charlie Osmond of Triptease; and Yesenia Mora of Amadeus.
The conference blended meetings with an on-island itinerary that immersed guests in experiences that build product knowledge. Activities showcased Saint Lucia by land and sea, as delegates explored Saint Lucia by boat, visited the signature Pitons, enjoyed the sulfur springs mud baths and more.
In addition, the Inspiro Awards were given by Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, recognizing leading wholesalers and milestones from the past year, including:
- Best U.S. Tour Operator Campaign Promoting Saint Lucia – Delta Vacations
- Best Canadian Tour Operator Campaign Promoting Saint Lucia – Westjet Vacations
- Top Growth Producing Traditional US Tour Operator – Apple Leisure Group
- Top Growth Producing Traditional Canadian Tour Operator – Air Canada Vacations
- Top Growth Producing OTA – Expedia
- Product Manager of the year – Michelle Gay, American Airlines Vacations
- Top Revenue Contributing US Tour Operator – Classic Vacations
- Top Revenue Contributing Canadian Tour Operator – Air Canada Vacations
- Tour Operator with most Growth in Revenue for weddings and Honeymoons – Classic Vacations
- US Tour Operator with the most Growth in Room Nights for 2022 – Vacation Express
- Canadian Tour Operator with the most Growth in Room Nights for 2022 – Air Canada
The article Re-tooling for resilience: 2023 Saint Lucia showcase North America strengthens tourism sector first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.