Fedee: ‘Let’s Make Tourism Ours’

Fedee made the comments moments before meeting with staffers at the Saint Lucia Tourist Board (SLTB) last Thursday morning, his first such meeting with them since being sworn in on June 14.

Fedee and SLTB’s Director of Tourism, Louis Lewis, and Deputy Director of Tourism, Tracey Warner-Arnold, hosted a press briefing where the Minister commended the Board for its work.

The SLTB is Saint Lucia’s principal promotion and marketing agency responsible for attracting visitors to the island and Fedee said the team deserves the praise.

“They have done a fine job,” Fedee said. “I want to go on record as saying thanks to Tracey, Louis, John (Emmanuel) and the rest of the folks here. We see it in their passion and energy when they execute the best jazz festival in the Caribbean.”

Fedee’s flattering remarks came three months after Director of Tourism, responded to public claims made by Fedee that the Board was ‘cherry-picking’ data for the island’s performance in tourism by leaving out crucial information regarding cruise arrival figures.

At the time, Fedee was campaigning to contesting the Anse la Raye/Canaries seat in the June 6 elections. He on a UWP ticket, eventually won the contest. Back then, Lewis dismissed Fedee’s comments as “clearly disingenuous” and “mischievous”, adding that the SLTB does not skew figures to suit any political party’s agenda.

Nevertheless, Fedee said on Thursday that he was delighted to be working with the Board and plans to bring his own experience from the private sector, particularly from the hotel sector, having worked at Sandals Resorts for many years as that hotel chain’s OECS Regional Public Relations Officer.

“We will together take the industry forward,” Fedee assured SLTB staffers. “Tourism is an industry that changes all the time. What was relevant yesterday is no longer relevant tomorrow. New destinations are emerging, new concepts are emerging, and new demands on the product are emerging all the time.”

Fedee said despite the SLTB’s role not being an easy one, the Board’s staff have painstakingly ensured that the task of marketing the island as a destination that embodies unique qualities. He also hopes that Saint Lucians themselves would see the real value the industry brings to the country.

“One of the things that I would like to see is a greater acceptance and embrace of the contribution of tourism and the importance it will play in the future economic and social development of our country.”

Thursday’s briefing was also used to introduce the contestant representing the Saint Lucia Tourist Board in this year’s Carnival Queen Pageant, Anna-Kim Williams, to SLTB staffers.

Williams said she was excited to be representing the SLTB at the July 2 pageant and return the title last won for the Tourist Board by Amy Stephen in 2013.