There will be an Easter Regatta in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) this year following several years’ absence from the national tourism calendar. The regatta will be held as part of SVG Sailing Week, from April 13 to 21. Speaking at the launch of the event in Bequia, Minister of Tourism Carlos James said that during the pandemic there was “a fall off, and of course, we were never able to revive properly the Easter Regatta”. He said some internal challenges attributed to that, adding, “And every year we’ll meet, we’ll have the song and dance said ‘We’re going to go do it this year; we’re going to make it happen.’” James, however, said that “we just really had a lull in terms of persons who are stepping up to the plate and ensuring that we’re able to host a vibrant Easter Regatta. “I didn’t want, with all of the wonderful things that are happening in tourism now and in my tenure as Minister of Tourism, to complete a full term and we don’t have an Easter Regatta,” said James, who is into the final year of a five-year term as MP for North Leeward. “And the people of Bequia deserve a successful Easter Regatta,” he said, adding that his ministry went further and expanded the activities beyond the Easter weekend. He said that while SVG still holds the majority of the market share within the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, there are challenges, particularly in the Southern Grenadines, due to the impact of Hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2024. “And I said, before we come to Bequia on Easter weekend, we’re going to get the sailors to move into Union Island and Mayreau and Canouan to also share with them part of the excitement around sailing.” James said Union Island’s Easterval used to be about sailing as well. “And we have to revive that and get that going. And we’re going to get the mainland involved because the first part of the sailing week is actually from mainland St. Vincent into Union for the long holidays.” He said the sailing week is not just having an Easter Regatta. “It’s having a flagship event that we can package and market,” he said, adding that that is another dimension of sailing. James said the country must ensure that sailors are coming to spend money at hotels, restaurants, in the community “and to have that trickle-down effect in the local economy. “Because if we are to just race our double-enders alone, where’s the revenue?” James said, referring to a class of sailing boats that are made in Bequia. “How are the hotels going to be filled? How are the shops and the galleries, the operators, the entrepreneurs going to make an income?” he said. The tourism minister said packaging a sailing week was “precisely the formula we needed to put out to the international market that St. Vincent and the Grenadines we’re open for business. “Despite the challenges of hurricane Beryl, sailing is still strong in the Southern Grenadines and the Northern Grenadines, but we’re saying this packaged product is one we can easily market.” The minister said that the sailing week was not being organised as a government initiative “I want the stakeholders to appreciate that. We’re doing this as a stakeholder-driven initiative where the revenue from the weekend here in Bequia goes directly in the hands of people living in Bequia. It is part of sustainable tourism and the emphasis that we are placing and the continuity of our product,” James said.