Caribbean can weather tourism storm, predicts St Lucia minister

CASTRIES, St. Lucia: While the price of oil sky-rockets and airlines reduce services and increase fares to some Caribbean destinations, one of the region's most experienced tourism officials wants the Caribbean to embark on innovative strategies to mitigate any negative fallout in Caribbean travel. Senator Allen Chastanet, St. Lucia's Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, suggests there is a silver lining in the midst of today's economic crisis and the Caribbean must be aggressive in the short and medium terms in order to be competitive in the long term. Senator Allen Chastanet, St Lucia's Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation "With the cutback in long haul travel between the United States and Europe and Asia, for example, there is an opportunity for our region if we aggressively market the Caribbean to the segment of the... [read full story]