The Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association would like to extend sincere congratulations to the hard-working marketing team of the Saint Lucia Tourist Board on their recently concluded agreement with United Airlines.
Earlier this week, an announcement was made informing all industry partners of United Airlines weekly non-stop service from Newark/ New York to Saint Lucia on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
This new service will commence on Saturday, July 13, 2013, departing on Saturdays from New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) at 8:55 am to Hewanorra International Airport (UVF) at 1:48 pm; and returning flights on Saturdays will depart Saint Lucia at 2:38 pm and are scheduled to arrive in Newark at 7:33 pm.
This beneficial partnership is the efforts from the Destination Marketer to increase direct airlift into the island, thus resulting in potential growth and convenience of travelers in the Northeast and many of the island’s top US markets.
This announcement was made after months of concern from local hoteliers that tourist stay-over figures were cause for concern especially after American Airlines pulled their daily flights in the summer of 2012.
The new service provides convenient connections at Newark Liberty to 22 key US cities including, Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C., as well to the major Canadian gateways of Ottawa and Quebec.
“The SLHTA is truly thankful for the dedication and work performed by the Saint Lucia Tourist Board. Increasing challenges are faced in the local and regional tourism industry but the SLTB has shown great strength in combating one of them and has increased airlift into the island. On behalf of our members of the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association, we thank you immensely. The onus is now on us to entice visitors to experience Saint Lucia and fill those available airline seats,” said Mr. Noorani Azeez, the executive vice president of the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association.