The Week at the SLHTA, November 02, 2012

The Week at SLHTA

TSB

The Jalousie Plantation, Soufriere, Saint Lucia
Friday, November 02, 2012
In This Edition
Jalousie Plantation Upgrades
Leading Honeymoon Destination
Morgan Bay Changes Name
Superstorm affects Travel
Caribbean Travel Marketplace 2013
Gateway to Europe
Saint Lucia tops Caricom
Tourism Week 2012
Businesses get ready to file VAT
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Jalousie Plantation changes Name to Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort on November 30 tsb

The Jalousie Plantation in St. Lucia recently completed a three-year, multi-million dollar transformation and is marking the occasion by renaming the property, Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort, on November 30.

The Viceroy Hotel Group, which has managed the Jalousie Plantation since 2008, played a key role in the multi-million dollar upgrading of the property, which bears little resemblance to the original hotel. The property will be branded under the Viceroy Hotels and Resorts portfolio.

The three-year, renovation project cost about $100 million and included such enhancements as 59 brand new Luxury Villas; eight brand new Luxury Beachfront Bungalows; 11 completely revamped Luxury Sugar Mill Rooms; a 9,427-square-footRainforest Spa and more.

 

www.travelagentcentral.com

World’s Leading Honeymoon Destination
wta

Voted “World’s Leading Honeymoon Destination” eight times by the World Travel Awards, the tropical island paradise of Saint Lucia is the perfect haven for romance, adventure and home to some of nature’s most precious natural beauties. Be prepared to stimulate your senses surrounded by unblemished landscapes and postcard perfect scenery. But don’t simply take our word for it; take the trip of a lifetime. Visit Saint Lucia today!

Multi-million pound upgrade and name change for the newly
re-launched 
St James’s Club, Morgan Bay, Saint Lucia

 

Following a multi-million pound upgrade, the former Morgan Bay Beach Resort in Saint Lucia has been re-named the St James’s Club, Morgan Bay, Saint Lucia.

 

The resort, which was bought by the Elite Island Resorts group in January this year when it was the Almond Morgan Bay Saint Lucia, has just undergone a resort-wide makeover.

 

More than 20 refurbishment projects have been completed including remodelling the swimming pools, upgrading the bar areas, buying new awnings and sunbeds and installing flat screen televisions in all 243 rooms.

 

The Elite Island Resorts group already owns the hugely popular St James’s Club Resort, Antigua.

 

About the name change Rob Barrett, chairman of Elite Island Resorts, said: “The formula at St James’s Club in Antigua is an ideal match for what we have created as a result of our investment in Saint Lucia.”

 

Superstorm affects Travel
Hurricane Sandy
Superstorm Sandy

Slowly, but surely, travel infrastructure in and around New York City is recovering from the impact of Sandy. The storm, which made landfall in New Jersey on Monday evening, had a significant impact on airports, rail lines, and roads. Fortunately, thanks in large part to advance planning, just a couple days after the storm passed, airports are back up and running and the trains are not far behind.

By Wednesday morning airports in Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, DC were back online, handling near normal levels of traffic. New York’s JFK airport and Newark airport both reopened on Wednesday as well, though with limited operations. And as of Thursday morning all major airports in the New York City area were open again and handling both cargo and passenger traffic.

Airlines canceled approximately 20,000 flights as a result of the storm. Delta alone cancelled roughly 3,600 and JetBlue 1,500. And while airlines are not all back up to 100% operations in the region yet most flights are running. By the end of the weekend all airlines expect that they will be running at or close to normal schedules.

source: www.fodores.com/news

CM 2013

Caribbean Travel Marketplace is open to companies that qualify under the following categories:

  • Suppliers – Hotels (bed and breakfasts, chains, management companies, resorts, timeshares, villas), Attractions, Destination Management Companies, Restaurants, Tourist Boards and Transportation Companies (airlines, automobile rentals, motorcoach).
Suppliers must be CHTA members in good standing. If your company is interested in attending and need to submit a membership application, you can contact the Membership Department at
  • Buyers – senior staff members from tour operators and/or wholesalers. Buyer participation is by invitation only and new companies can request approval for registration.
Hotel Chains and Hotel Representative Companies may only represent CHTA member hotels in good financial standing. If your company is a Hotel Chain or Hotel Representative Company, you must register to represent all your Caribbean properties and each must be a fully paid member of CHTA.  Selective representation by a Chain or Hotel Representative Company is NOT allowed.
SLHTA Members MUST be in good financial standing with the SLHTA before registering with CHTA.  Please contact us at slhta@candw.lc for more information.

 The Gateway to Europe 

Condor

 Condor Airlines has resumed weekly services from St. Lucia to Frankfurt, Germany, with onward connections to several cities in Europe.

  Spice Travel who has been their General Sales Agents since the commencement of service in 1994, are delighted that their operation has resumed earlier this season. The weekly service leaves Frankfurt every Thursday at the convenient time of 11:30 and departs St. Lucia at 16:20.

 

Three classes of service are offered:

  • Economy  – Complimentary meals & non alcoholic drinks
  • Premium Economy – Complimentary meals, non alcoholic & alcoholic drinks (with meals)
  • Comfort class – Complimentary meals, drinks & generous baggage allowance.

Condor Airlines also welcomes pets! You can get your pet a confirmed reservation.  Terms & conditions apply.

 

For more Details & Reservations;

Visit the Spice Travel Office at Casa Lucia Building, Beausejour Road Gros Islet

Telephone number: 452 – 0865/6

or

Email: operations@spicetravelstlucia.com

Spiceadmin@candw.lc

St. Lucia tops Caricom in ease of doing business ranking
Saint Lucia Ranks #1
St Lucia is the top-ranked CARICOM country for ease of doing business, according to the 2013 World Bank Doing Business rankings.

St Lucia copped the top CARICOM spot for the second straight year, ranking 53rd worldwide on the list, although that represented a minimal drop from its ranking of 52nd in the 2012 report.

‘Doing Business 2013: Smarter Regulations For Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’, released last week, explores how business-friendly regulations in each of the territories are, covering areas from starting a business to resolving insolvency.

This year’s 282-page report covered data measured from June 2011 through May 2012.

Tourism Week Saint Lucia 2012
tw

Tourism Week 2012 came to a resounding close on Sunday October 28.  The Week of activities energized not just the community of Laborie, but the entire island.  From the Concert launch to the Tourism Symposium to the Jounen Kweyol village fair.

The evening activities  showcased Artistes from the 70s and 80s at Laborie’s Papel Craft Centre.  The youth were not to be outdone however as the Tourism Poetry Competition unearthed vibrant young “poets” from St Mary’s College and Sir Ira Simmonds Secondary School.

vat slu

Business Community urged to file first VAT returns on 21st Nov 2012

 

With the first remittance of the VAT return and payment due on November 21st, the VAT Section of the Inland Revenue Department is gearing up to visit registered businesses for the purpose of assisting with the completion of the VAT Return. Ahead of these visits, the Inland Revenue Department has already dispatched the VAT Return (Form VAT 003) to all registered taxpayers.

Filing assistance will be made available from October 31, 2012 to November 16, 2012. Help desks will also be set up from the 12-20 November, 2012 at all Inland Revenue locations as well as at the J Q Charles Rodney Bay Mall on November 15 and 16, 2012. The Help Desk will be available from 10am to 3pm on the identified dates.

The VAT Return will reflect VAT related transactions of registered businesses for the period October 1 – 31st, 2012. A sample of the VAT Return is available on the VAT website, www.vat.gov.lc as well as basic guidelines that one would need to follow in order to complete their VAT Return Form.

The VAT Section is finalizing the production of an instructional tool to help registrants become familiar with the VAT Return. The Worksheet Guide is a practical tool that will take the registrant step by step through the filing process. This Guide will be available on the VAT website and from the VAT Section in the coming week. The VAT Guide also provides information to make filing the VAT returns easy.

Businesses are urged to visit or call the VAT Section at telephone number 468-2800, if they have any queries. Businesses can also send their queries via email – vatinfo@vat.gov.lc or vatcoordinator@vat.gov.lc.

All completed return forms and payments are to be brought in to the Inland Revenue Department in Castries, Vieux Fort or Soufriere on or before November 21, 2012.

source: www.vat.gov.lc