The 2021 peak tourism season in St. Vincent and Grenadines (SVG) will commence on Saturday August 7th, when the first cruise ship for the season – Seabourn Odyssey – docks in Port Elizabeth, Bequia.

 

According to Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Carlos James, 224 cruise ships are expected to call at the various ports throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the upcoming months. He stressed however that this number may increase or can be negatively affected due to the fluidity of the global impacts from the pandemic. Speaking at a Media Conference on Tuesday July 27, Minister James stated that all cruise calls will operate in bubbles with fully vaccinated service providers. He said that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is delighted to welcome its very first vessel to the destination since 2020 and noted that 14 of the scheduled cruise calls will be inaugural calls to the destination.

 

The Minister also expressed elation at the fact that Virgin Atlantic will commence non-stop flights to the destination on October 15, 2021. In November 2020, the airline announced that it will be launching the first flight from Europe to St. Vincent with a new service to Argyle International Airport departing from London Heathrow. According to Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic “We look forward to launching this new service to St. Vincent, welcoming customers onboard heading off on holiday or travelling to visit their loved ones.” The twice-weekly service, will operate on the airline’s A330-300 aircraft boasting 31 upper class, 48 premium and 185 economy delight, classic and light seats.

 

Air Canada, which has been operating an SVG route since 2017, will resume flights to St. Vincent and the Grenadines on November 1 2021, having suspended its service when the Canadian borders closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. American Airlines will also resume its mid-week service on October 13 giving travellers an option to its Saturday service; both flights operate out of the Miami International Airport.

 

The destination has implemented several protocols for arriving passengers including Tourism Approved “Safe Zones,” which are serviced by fully vaccinated tourism service providers. All fully vaccinated visitors arriving by air will only be required to quarantine for 48 hours in a “Tourism Approved” property while quarantine periods for unvaccinated visitors range from seven to 21 days, depending on the origin of the traveller.

 

Minister James is of the view that the upcoming tourism season is one to celebrate given the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well by the eruption of La Soufrière volcano in April 2021.

 

For further details on the Entry Protocols and Tourism Approved Accommodation, visit
@DiscoverSVG on Facebook or Instagram, or go to gov.vc.