Owners and operators of Airbnbs and apartments here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are being urged to be ready ahead of a boom in tourism activity, with the upcoming West Indies U19 cricket competition and VincyMas 2023 taking place simultaneously.
The Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Sehon Marshall while speaking on WEFM this morning gave this advice noting that bookings from the West Indies Cricket Board alone would fill two to three hotels locally.
This lead to him calling for owners and operators of Airbnbs and apartments to be prepared for an increase in business.
“During the carnival season we would have also the West Indies U19 cricket competition here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in July. So there is going to be competition between carnival/festival tourism and sports tourism,” he said.
The Prime Minister Press Secretary spoke more on the size of the coming cricket teams and the number of rooms they are likely to occupy.
“A contingent of cricketers might be 22 members. If you look at the six teams that are playing, 6 x 22—looking at one hundred and something people, the WICB has already been booking spaces for those teams,” Mr. Marshall.
Due to this he encouraged the nation’s Airbnb and apartment owners to be ready because hotels alone will not be able to satisfy the demand.
“And so here is where our apartments and airbnbs come in, position yourself because the traffic is going to be there. Take the time to prepare for the bumper season for the bumper carnival, June/July carnival season, because people are going to be renting your house, renting your apartments, people are going to be coming to your Airbnb. Take the time and prepare your product; do the painting, do the repairs, fix the shower heads, take out the rotten pieces of board in the cupboard, fumigate if you have to, make sure that the cockroaches and so on are gone, because people are going to need your space,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s Press Secretary also noted that the following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic it is especially important that these entrepreneurs be prepared as things are returning to normal at a rapid pace.
