Tourism Minister Addresses IMF Findings on Visitor Expenditure Trends

Saint Lucia’s Tourism Minister, Dr. Ernest Hilaire, has robustly defended the island's visitor expenditure statistics, responding to scrutiny from a recent IMF report questioning the accuracy of data from the Visitor Expenditure Survey (VES). The IMF indicated a 24.8% overestimate in US visitor spending. Hilaire acknowledged small sample sizes due to pandemic-related privacy protocols but emphasized that improvements, including face-to-face surveys, are being implemented. He rebuffed claims of manipulated data, asserting that historical discrepancies existed even before the pandemic. Hilaire remains confident in the strength of Saint Lucia's data.