GIU – The Montserrat Tourist Board says it welcomes the announcement of a year-round ferry service for the Caribbean, which will be a boost to the marketing drive to attract new visitors.
L’Express Des Iles this week announced that the Jeans Ferry Service will begin on October 20, offering travel to Dominica, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe and Martinique. There will also be weekend charters to Montserrat, Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Martin and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Currently, L’Express Des Iles operates a less frequent service but Managing Director Roland Bellemare says there’s been increased travel over the years.
MTB Director Ernestine Cassell and Marketing Manager Ishwar Persad met with Valerie Arunel from Kiosque des Iles in Martiniqe, which is the tour company for ferry operator Les Express Des Iles in March during the ITB Berlin as a result of contacts made via the MTB’s office in Guadeloupe.
“Even though it will be charters, it will help Montserrat immensely to capitalize on all the promotion work we have been doing in the French islands, by bringing visitors in large quantities from this market,” says Persad.
In 2010, the ferry service carried 184,000 passengers between Guadeloupe-Martinique, St. Lucia, and Dominica.
The ferry carries 137 passengers at a time and is expected to being welcomed by tourism agencies around the Caribbean to provide increased access to the French market and could also make it easier to reach St. Lucia and, by extension, the US.
