DME Mass tourism in St Lucia
Candidate Sources
Source 1: Tourist Arrivals to St Lucia
Source: http://www.onecaribbean.org/statistics/tourismstats/
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
TOTAL
2011
26,993
26,142
29,536
29,122
24,786
21,151
32,835
28,429
16,844
22,431
22,536
30,346
312,404
2012
25,605
28,947
30,885
27,399
24,257
22,404
29,416
27,866
16,687
22,248
23,709
28,631
306,801
% change
-5.1
10.7
4.6
-5.9
-2.1
-5.6
-10.4
-2.0
-0.9
-0.8
5.2
-5.7
-1.8
TOTAL 306,801 312,404 (5,603) -1.8%
Source 2: Tourist arrivals by market (December 2012)
Source: http://www.onecaribbean.org/statistics/tourismstats/
Market
USA
UK
Caribbean
Canada
Rest of Europe
Germany
France
Rest of world
TOTAL
2012
10,138
6,579
4,665
4,570
1,304
413
482
480
28,631
Source 3: Which countries play golf?
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf#Golf_courses_worldwide
Number of golf courses by country in 2008
Country
USA
UK
Japan
Canada
Australia
Germany
France
China
Sweden
South Africa
Rest of the world
Total
Number of Courses %
17,672
2,752
2,442
2,300
1,500
684
559
500
480
450
5,773
35,112
50%
8%
7%
7%
4%
2%
2%
1%
1%
1%
17%
Source 4: Unemployment (%) St Lucia
Source: http://204.188.173.139:9090/stats/index.php/statistics/labour
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Male
12.6
16.8
19.5
19.2
19.4
Female
17.8
19.6
22.0
23.3
23.6
Total
15.0
18.1
20.6
21.2
21.4
Source 5: Cruise Arrivals to St Lucia
Source: http://www.onecaribbean.org/statistics/tourismstats/
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
TOTAL
2011
88,371
78,393
94,581
72,861
19,506
21,659
18,698
20,731
19,658
22,832
71,098
102,056
630,444
2012
94,070
90,844
84,637
52,281
17,419
13,520
14,396
16,354
12,210
21,838
68,644
85,681
571,894
% change
6.0
15.9
-10.5
-28.2
10.7
-37.6
-23.0
-21.1
-37.9
-4.4
-3.5
-16.0
-9.3
Source 6: Cruise ship calls per month (2012)
Source: http://www.onecaribbean.org/statistics/tourismstats/
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
TOTAL
2011
53
46
53
41
10
7
6
7
7
9
42
65
346
2012
65
52
55
26
6
5
7
5
4
9
40
62
336
Source 7: News article on cruise shipping to Antigua and Barbuda
Source: http://www.caribarena.com/antigua/tourism/tourism-news/102915-good-day-for-the-
cruise-tourism-sector.html
Yesterday was a good day for the Cruise Tourism sector in terms of numbers of passengers on
shore in Antigua & Barbuda. The City of St Johns was bustling with activity with the arrival of Four
Large Cruise ships. Heritage Quay had the German Main Schiff and the New Pacific Princess while
Nevis street had the MS Lirica Italian Brand and the Celebrity Eclipse from Celebrity Cruise Line
and Royal Caribbean Cruises.
The Tourism Stakeholders were happy to have a welcoming party onboard the Pacific Princess
which was making its first call ever to Antigua. Captain Salvatore expressed that he was delighted
to return to Antigua after twelve (12) years and expressed satisfaction about the development that
has taken place in the port maritime area of St Johns and looks forward to making more calls
regularly to Antigua.
According to Nathan Dundas the President of the Antigua & Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association (
ABCTA) “ the arrival of these ships provided a good opportunity for the stakeholders to benefit from
the amount of passengers calling.
“We had almost 6000 passengers and approximately 3000 crewmembers on the island so while the
spending power may be down at least it provides an opportunity for the island to receive a measure
of much needed foreign currency income to the state.”
Representing the yachting sector, Mr John Duffy of the Marine Merchants Association thanked the
captain as well for the arrival f the vessel as he also stressed the working relationship and support
of the yachting and cruise sector was important to the development of the tourism product.
Source 8: Questions about cruise ships in St Lucia
Source: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/
Question 1
Where do cruise ships dock? Where do most of the day tourists descend and spend their precious
hours on what neighbouring beaches? I'd like to avoid these areas in choosing my accommodation
location. Any suggestions on what area to stay in?
Also, are there beaches all over? Any which are private, or relatively uninhabited? I don't want to
travel all this way to be among hordes & crowds on the beaches. Any white sand beaches? or are
most gray, silver, shaded with black from volcanoic ash?
Answer 1
The cruise ships dock in Castries and the majority of daytrippers head towards the zipline or Reduit
Beach area with its lovely white sand beach. It can get very crowded.
That said, the hotels in the area have great compounds and you you can stay inside by the pool in
the day until the beaches become completely deserted by 3.30 p.m. so dont be put off by the
location of Bay Gardens Beach Resort, Rex St Lucia, Royal etc. They know how to segregate if you
want it.
Further south the beaches become darker as you get closer to the volcano.
Question 2
In the cruise ship docking areas there are a few eateries that offer a good choice. Also just on the
outskirts of the harbour (within half a mile) thereis Froggie Jacques and Coalpot both of which are
more upmarket and good.
Answer 2
If you are docked by Point Seraphine there are some small food stands in the shopping plaza, if
docked by the duty-free mall there is a restaurant upstairs that offers local food as well as multiple
local places to eat within 1/2 mile walking distance. I believe there is a water shuttle that will take
you from Point Seraphine to the duty free mall eliminating the need for extensive walking.
Question 3
Is there a schedule somewhere so we can see when the cruise ships are in port (and avoid them at
all costs??)
We certainly plan to spend some time in town, shopping at local markets and at the popular
beaches. however, also have a pool at our villa and have a rental car so we want to avoid the
masses whenever possible and perhaps lay low on cruise days (particularly when there are 2 or 3 of
them in port.) If someone could point me towards such a schedule I would be grateful!
Source 9: Location of hotels in St Lucia
Source: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/
Source 10: How useful is mass tourism to St Lucia’s economy?
Source: Sharmon Jules (2005) Sustainable Tourism in St Lucia International Institute for
Sustainable Development
Although trade in tourism-services stimulates national economic growth, patterns in the industry
suggest the income distribution and multiplier effect may not be very significant. Extrapolation of
data from the St. Lucia Tourist Board shows foreign companies own at least 55 to 60 per cent of all
hotel rooms on the island. This indicates a high propensity for leakage of gross tourism receipts, as
returns from foreign investment are normally repatriated to the countries of origin. Another feature
limiting the distribution effect of income from tourism is the increasing number of package-tour
visitors to the island. Between 2001 and 2003, visitors arriving on package tours increased from
35.3 per cent to 59.6 per cent. As mentioned earlier, as much as 75 per cent of the package-tour
visitor’s expenditure goes to tour operators in the tourist generating markets.
The large number of all-inclusive hotels also presents a barrier to the distribution of tourism income
throughout the local economy. Currently, 56.6 per cent of rooms are all-inclusive—the majority
located in foreign-owned resorts. Thus, all-inclusive properties could increase repatriation of profits
and reduce opportunities for locals to gain income from tourists because the hotels already provide
almost everything the tourists need.
Cruise tourism can act as a barrier in a similar way. Cruise ships offer many products and services
such as restaurants, gift shops and salons that are in direct competition with local destination
suppliers. Cruise-visitor expenditure tends to be lower than stay-over visitor expenditure. The
Worldwide Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates that cruise passenger contribution to
tourism earnings is only about eight to 10 per cent of total receipts. Presently, cruise passenger
arrivals account for more than 50 per cent of total visitors to St. Lucia on a yearly basis (WTTC
2004).
Leakage of tourist receipts also occurs through importation of goods and services for the tourism
industry. Imports by St. Lucia’s tourism sector have traditionally been high compared to other
islands such as Jamaica.