President of the Saint Lucia Craft and Dry Goods Vendors Association, Peter ‘Ras Ipa’ Isaac, has addressed the issue of whether vendors’ rental fees should be waived during the low tourism season.
He believes such a measure would not be easy for the authorities to implement.
However, Isaac suggested that a 50% reduction could offer relief to both the vendors and the association, helping to reduce arrears.
“In my opinion, I don’t know how feasible is something like this; like when there are ships you would pay $20 and when there are ships you don’t pay,” he told St. Lucia Times.
“What I think should happen is during the slow season is some arrangement must be made to waive some percentage of the rental because it would be a win-win for both sides that if there is a 50% reduction in terms of rental at the low season then we would accumulate less arrears during that period,” the Vendors Association President observed.
Isaac emphasized that since the onset of COVID-19, local vendors have struggled significantly.
The pandemic halted international travel and disrupted the local economy, negatively impacting vendors at the arcade in Castries.
“Since COVID-19 began, the regular off-season has not been the same. Immediately after the pandemic, there were almost no ships during the off-season. The following year saw only one or two ships, but not much more. This year, the low season has been extremely slow, with some weeks bringing in ships and other weeks seeing none at all,” the Vendors Association President explained.
“In the high season, we have ships almost every day, but sometimes you have cancellations because there are some ships that are on the schedule that may not come even if we are not aware,” he noted.
In addition, Isaac lamented a lack of support from individuals who have the influence to bring tourists to the arcade, noting that efforts to engage with these stakeholders have been unsuccessful.
“We have tried to speak with people who are in charge with coasters and the others and they have agreed to have discussions with us but it never happened,” Isaac stated.
He also said there had been talks of constructing a new arcade closer to where the ships dock to boost revenue, but there has yet to be progress.
Isaac added that this uncertainty about the new building prevents vendors from developing new strategies to increase revenue at the current arcade, as they are unsure of the plans.
