The Ministry of Tourism says that some 256 confirmed cruise calls are scheduled for St. Vincent and the Grenadines during 2018-2019 tourism season.
This was disclosed by Minister of Tourism, Cecil McKie at a press conference held earlier this afternoon at the Peace Memorial Hall.
He said that according to the first draft outlining the cruise visits, these 256 confirmed cruise calls are expected to bring a capacity of approximately 350,000 persons.
Minister McKie said this country received an increase of 24% cruise calls for the October to April 2017-2018 cruise season compared to that of 2016-2017, due to the damage caused to some Caribbean islands as a result of the passage of hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017.
In terms of overall visitor arrivals, the Tourism Minister said that in 2017 this country welcomed some 310,000 visitors, compared to 230,000 in 2016.
He noted that for the first 7 months of this year, close to 50,000 visitors arrived here.
