‘Come and See My Saint Lucia’: One-on-One With Tourism Minister Ernest Hilaire

It’s fitting to hear Saint Lucia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Dr. Ernest Hilaire, talk about the warmth of his country.

Because for anyone who has shared a conversation with him, that warmth is difficult to miss.

Hilaire is personable, quick to laugh and seemingly happy to answer anything put in front of him. There is no sense that a question needs to fit neatly within a tourism talking point. Ask about airlift, and he’ll talk numbers. Ask what he misses about home and the conversation shifts easily to the people he passes on the street each morning.

Ask about Canadians, and there is plenty he wants to say.

Hilaire is in Toronto as part of Saint Lucia’s Canada Winter Showcase, a week-long program running Sept. 20-27 that includes meetings with airlines, tour operators, travel trade partners, media and members of the Saint Lucian diaspora.

The timing is significant.

Canadian arrivals to Saint Lucia reached 23,908 through July, up 20.3% year-over-year, while July alone recorded 2,067 Canadian arrivals, a 4.3% increase. Airlift is also set to increase substantially for the winter.

But for Hilaire, the relationship with Canada is about considerably more than seats and arrival numbers.

“I think Saint Lucia has a natural fit, a natural alignment with Canadians,” he said.

He describes Canadians as discerning travellers who care about sustainability, culture and heritage, and who are less likely to spend an entire vacation simply sitting on a beach.

That, he says, aligns particularly well with the Saint Lucia he wants visitors to discover.

Hilaire also pointed to the current geopolitical environment as one factor influencing Canadian travel patterns, saying Canadians are looking at new destinations and opportunities amid changes elsewhere in the region and internationally.

But there is also a much older connection between the two countries.

Hilaire talks enthusiastically about Saint Lucia’s French and Creole heritage and the similarities he sees with Canada, particularly Quebec. Saint Lucia’s civil code has French roots, he noted, while French influence can be found throughout the island’s names, food, music and cultural celebrations.

Then there are connections many Canadians may never have heard about.

Hilaire recalled the historic role of Canadian banks in Saint Lucia and the salt cod from Nova Scotia that became part of the island’s national dish. Even his secondary school, Castries Comprehensive, was built with Canadian assistance, he said, with a uniform incorporating red and white.

“We have that historical relationship that we can cement even further,” he said. “Canada has been a very good friend for us.”

Village of Canaries on Saint Lucia (Photo Credit: Goyoconde/Adobe Stock)

More Than A Place To Visit

What Hilaire wants Canadians to discover next is not necessarily another resort.

Saint Lucia has long been associated with romance, luxury, beaches and the Pitons. Hilaire doesn’t want to lose any of that, but he does want travellers, and the advisors selling the destination, to look further.

“I think, for me, I want a greater emphasis on the cultural and heritage tourism,” he said.

October, for example, is Creole Heritage Month, culminating in Jounen Kwéyòl, while the island’s cultural calendar also includes traditional flower festivals, Carnival and the Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival.

There is also a growing collection of experiences designed to take visitors into communities.

Saint Lucia has established a Community Tourism Agency and passed community tourism legislation as part of an effort to give more Saint Lucians a direct stake in the visitor economy.

That distinction matters to Hilaire.

“We want to know that when you leave Saint Lucia, you can say, yes, it’s beautiful, but more important, I have created a connection in this place,” he said.

It means hiking trails, ATV experiences, community fish fries, cultural events, rum shops and locally operated accommodations and experiences where, he says, more of the visitor’s money can remain directly with Saint Lucians.

The island has also recently opened its first underwater sculpture park, featuring 200 sculptures across five galleries designed to tell stories of Saint Lucia’s history, culture and heritage while creating new marine habitats.

“When it’s done, you actually see ordinary Saint Lucians benefiting more than ever,” Hilaire said of the broader community tourism push.

For travel advisors, that could mean reconsidering the client they picture when they think of Saint Lucia.

Hilaire said the Canadian market isn’t dominated by the romance segment in the same way as some other markets. Instead, he sees an opportunity among travellers looking for experiences; particularly those interested in culture, heritage, food and a deeper understanding of the destination.

“We Celebrate Life”

It is when the conversation turns away from tourism strategy, however, that Hilaire perhaps makes his best case for visiting.

When asked what he misses most about Saint Lucia when he’s away.

His answer wasn’t the Pitons. Or the beaches. Or even the weather.

It was people.

He talked about waking up, going to work and exchanging greetings with people on the street. About strangers smiling and waving.

“We don’t train our people to smile,” he said. “We don’t just live life for the sake of living it…we celebrate life.”

A few minutes later, he is asked what there is about Saint Lucia that can’t really be explained until someone experiences it.

He came back to those same words.

“We celebrate life.”

In Saint Lucia, he explained, visitors may discover a different relationship with time; one where taking a break, having a drink on a Friday afternoon or simply enjoying where you are isn’t treated as time wasted.

His advice to a first-time visitor reflects that philosophy.

“Don’t try to do too much. Don’t just rush your vacation…sink into it.”

Ask Hilaire for the one place he’d take a first-time visitor and, perhaps unsurprisingly, he can’t choose just one.

There is Gros Islet and its long-running Friday night street party. Anse La Raye offers another, somewhat quieter seafood experience.

Then there is Soufrière.

“You must go take a mud bath,” he said of the Sulphur Springs, before describing the experience of approaching Soufrière from the water and seeing the Pitons rising above it.

The point, again, isn’t simply seeing Saint Lucia.

It is participating in it.

When asked what he’d like visitors to do more of, Hilaire didn’t hesitate: spend time in communities and understand the people who live there.

“Yes, it’s a vacation,” he said. “We want you to understand the landscape, and you know, understand who we are and try to become part of our landscape for the time that you are there.”

Why Canada, Why Now?

During his Toronto visit, Hilaire is meeting with airlines to discuss future service, including opportunities around the Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival in May and Carnival in July. He is also meeting tour operators to encourage them to include more community experiences in the Saint Lucia they sell.

Canadian airlift will increase significantly this winter. Air Canada is scheduled to increase service from Toronto to five times weekly from December through March, while WestJet will operate four times weekly.

Hilaire sees demand and capacity feeding one another.

“There’s a lot of organic demand for Saint Lucia,” he said, adding that the destination has also made a deliberate decision to do more in the Canadian market.

Canadian visitors are staying longer, too. Hilaire said the average Canadian stay is approximately 10.5 days.
Asked what he will tell Saint Lucians about Canadians when he returns home, Hilaire said he will tell them Canadians have a deep interest in the country.

“They want good value for their money. They want good service, but they also want a deeper connection,” he said.
“They want to travel with a purpose.”

For Hilaire, that creates an opportunity — but also a responsibility.

“We don’t want to be seen as just a playground,” he said. “We want to be a destination that has meaning, that has an identity.”

After spending the better part of half an hour talking with him, it becomes clear that distinction matters deeply.

Hilaire can talk about increased airlift, rising arrivals and tourism development. But again and again, the conversation returns to people: Saint Lucians owning businesses, welcoming visitors into their communities, sharing food and culture, saying good morning to strangers and inviting travellers to slow down long enough to understand where they are.

And as the interview ends with the same warmth and hospitality that it began with, we learn that Canada is not simply a market Saint Lucia wants to grow, but a country Hilaire believes already understands much of what Saint Lucia is trying to protect.

For Canadians considering a visit, his invitation is simple.

Come.

Don’t rush.

And, for a little while at least, celebrate life the Saint Lucian way.

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