NEW YORK CITY - Travel Agent was on site at the Bryant Park Grill in Manhattan for the launch of www.caribbeantravel.com when we had a moment to sit down with Senator Allen Chastanet, minister for tourism and civil aviation for St. Lucia. Chastanet told us that the St. Lucia Tourism Board will be restructured into a tourism authority; an official announcement is expected as early as Monday. The new authority would be more private sector-oriented and would be led by a CEO, who has yet to be named.
Acting tourism director Louis E.A. Lewis, who will be profiled in the March 31 issue of Travel Agent, is expected to serve in a different role when the authority is expected to begin operations around April. "His experience and knowledge of the destination is too valuable for us to give up," Chastanet told us, "so he will continue to serve in a key role." Chastanet would not give any details on who the CEO would be or whether or not it would be an official from another island. "We are looking into several options," he says. (JP)