Executive Director of the Bay Gardens Resorts Sanovnik Destang says that Caribbean festivals add a unique dimension to the overall regional tourism package.
With festivals forming a big part of the Caribbean culture, the Bay Gardens recently put on their innovative ‘Taste the Bay’ Food Festival, in an effort to woo both locals and visitors and to offer them an opportunity to partake in the best display of culinary arts.
Recently, several independent hotels teamed up with Bay Gardens to present the culinary display to patrons in an ideal social setting- tinged with food, beverages and live entertainment.
Noting that regional festivals also help to enhance the visitor experience, he recalls that Saint Lucia’s best arrival month was in July, 2019.
“And that was only for one thing, Carnival,” declared Destang.
He describes it as “our best month ever …and it saw more people coming into Saint Lucia than December, January, February or any winter time of any year”.
Added Destang: “So, festivals are a big business, especially for regional tourism.”
He cited the hosting of festivals on the island, such as the Jazz Festival, and Carnival and that “maybe we can start to elevate our Creole Heritage Month in October …
While stating that the hotel management cannot predict the longevity of the Taste the Bay festival, since “we don’t know what the future holds, but I really do hope that we will be able to continue to partner with persons like the St Lucia Hotel and Tourism Authority (SLHTA) to really make this thing a bigger festival, so that we will be able to have another festival.”
Destang asserted: “Food is a big thing, it’s a big deal … and Rodney Bay is another version of the big food festivals put on in other countries such as Canada, Italy and others.”
He added, “It only makes sense for us to take that next step, and I feel that it could be something exciting and I’m really looking forward to it being an annual event that attracts all visitors, but certainly our Caribbean brothers and sisters who are a big, big part of our tourism product.”
He said that pre-Covid, “people from the Caribbean were our second largest source of arrivals to Saint Lucia, then the UK and the US …but with our Caribbean visitors we will do anything to get them back and to get that market back.”
Summing up the Taste the Bay culinary experience, an event organizer spokesperson declared: “Saint Lucia has some of the most compelling gastronomy in the Caribbean: an intoxicating blend of flavors and tastes, cultures and cuisines.
“Celebrating that diversity was precisely the aim of the island’s newest festival, Taste the Bay, which held its smashing first edition.”
Destang , the former president / director of the SLHTA who is among the stalwarts in the regional tourism industry , and recently elected 1st Vice President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) has prospects for the return of the popular ‘Sunset Jazz’ or ‘Jazz on the Bay’ as the island’s entertainment calendar unfolds in the new year .
He said that though Bay Gardens is not an events-management company, “this is the next big event that we would like to bring back.”