DOMINIC Fedee, Minister of Tourism, Information and Broadcasting, said that he is not worried over the threat that the conflict between the U.S. and Iran can pose against the tourism sector in Saint Lucia. The statement was made last week Friday by the Minister in response to the recent security alert issued by the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown Barbados.
The Tourism Minister went on to say, “I think that travel has shown whenever there is a war somewhere that we are resilient; that we bounce back pretty quickly. We came back from 9/11 which was a serious catastrophe, we came back from the financial crisis. So… there will always be vulnerabilities and there will always be external issues that may affect the internal situation.”
The Minister added, “What you’ve got to do is be optimistic and hope for the best. I have absolutely no control in terms of the geopolitical situation. All I’ve got to do is be optimistic, do our job and keep focused on ensuring that we give ourselves the best chance to withstand any external shocks that may come.”
Prior to the Minister’s statement on the matter, Saint Lucian Political Analyst, Earl Bousquet, amplified the gravity of the Embassy’s security alert in an interview with Loop News by stating, “From a regional perspective, Caribbean security will be at stake like never before as modern-day war machines and weapons of mass destruction can now reach any corner of the globe in 30 minutes max.”
Meanwhile, when the tourism minister was asked by local journalists whether he was concerned about the situation, he remarked, “I’m not concerned, I’m optimistic that we’re going to fight hard to make sure that we withstand any external vulnerabilities that may come as a result of issues that we don’t have control over.”
