Speaking on the island’s evolving tourism strategy, Lewis said Saint Lucia has been “a forerunner in the area of events marketing,” intentionally using major cultural activities to balance seasonal dips.

“We try to minimize the negative impacts of seasonality. A lot of our visitors, particularly from Europe and North America, travel in larger numbers during the winter. So what we did was shift some of our events into the summer months,” Lewis explained

He pointed to the Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival, now the longest-running non-cultural festival in the Caribbean, as a cornerstone of that strategy, serving as a lead-in to Carnival and other cultural celebrations.

“Our Carnival shifted into July, really the middle of the summer interval,” he said. “Strangely enough, or maybe not, this is now the highest month for occupancy outside the traditional winter season. It is serving a market not catered for by the traditional model.”

Lewis added that Flower Festivals and Creole Heritage Month also hold untapped potential, and plans are underway to strengthen and integrate these cultural traditions into the island’s broader tourism identity.

“We are in an evolving place where we are reducing seasonality with the use of heritage, culture, and events,” he said. “These events will stand on their own as reasons to visit.”

He noted that even niche events, such as the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), play an important role in giving travelers new reasons to visit Saint Lucia outside the peak months.

Lewis also confirmed that Saint Lucia is taking “deliberate, strategic and measured steps” to diversify its tourism markets beyond the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, which currently account for more than 70% of arrivals.

“We are taking slow, deliberate steps going into Africa,” he revealed, saying Nigeria would likely be the first target market given an already-established Memorandum of Understanding.

But he stressed that the approach is not only about bringing visitors.

“It’s linking with culture, linking with commerce, and bringing the visitor element together,” Lewis said. “That combination increases the likelihood of success.”

The SLTA is also assessing opportunities in Latin America, examining what travelers there are seeking and determining how Saint Lucia can uniquely meet those needs.

“We are doing it incrementally and very strategically,” Lewis added, acknowledging the failures of other Caribbean islands that expanded too quickly or without a tailored plan.

“Barbados went into Brazil and was not successful. Antigua entered Ghana and did not see the results they expected. We have learned from these initiatives, and we are guaranteeing that Saint Lucia will be successful.”

Lewis emphasized that the ultimate goal is to reduce dependence on the island’s two dominant tourism markets and build a more resilient, year-round visitor economy.

“The whole initiative is really ensuring that we diversify from the cluster situation of having more than 70 to 80 percent of your arrivals coming from just two markets,” he said.

With events-driven tourism, cultural elevation, and strategic market expansion, Lewis believes Saint Lucia is well on its way to achieving that balance.