Saint Lucia with Enhanced Booking Systems

Charlottesville, VA (USA) – 14 February 2012 – The Saint Lucia Tourist Board (SLTB) and the Saint Lucia Hotel & Tourism Association (SLHTA) will jointly launch a new and improved booking engine on their respective websites www.saintlucianow.com and www.bookstlucianow.com. Designed to bolster the island’s tourism industry and enhance the consumer and travel agent booking experience, the new system is provided by Regatta Travel Solutions.

“The SLHTA booking engine www.bookstlucianow.com gives a unique new opportunity to a broad spectrum of our members to have their accommodation and excursion product available and instantly bookable online– soon restaurants will be added also,” said Karolin Troubetzkoy, President of the SLHTA. “The SLHTA is particularly pleased that the Saint Lucia Tourist Board cooperated with SLHTA in this venture and that our booking engine has been incorporated in the SLTB destination website. We look forward to discussing more coop marketing activities with the SLTB to the benefit of our hotel and tourism industry.”

The new booking engine will enrich the consumer’s experience of planning a trip to Saint Lucia and will allow travel agents to book specials, provide their IATA number and information and earn commission. “In the coming weeks, further enhancements to the engine will allow agents to be able to register and login to access special offers tailored to travel agents, track bookings and commissions, and much more,” adds Louis Lewis, Director of Tourism for the Saint Lucia Tourist Board.

“We are pleased to have been chosen for this project,” said Ashwin Kamlani, President of Regatta Travel Solutions. “Other Caribbean destinations have seen a high rate of return with our booking engine and we expect to replicate this success in Saint Lucia.”

About Saint Lucia
One of the Windward Islands of the West Indies’ Lesser Antilles, Saint Lucia (pronounced Saint LOO-sha) is nestled halfway down the eastern Caribbean archipelago. The “Helen of the West Indies,” Saint Lucia is known for its natural beauty and diverse attractions, including the signature Piton Mountains – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – a tropical rainforest and one of the world’s few drive-in volcanoes. Culturally rich offerings include the bustling marketplace in the capital of Castries, quaint fishing villages along the coastline, and the annual Saint Lucia Jazz festival. Saint Lucia’s wide range of accommodations includes world-class five-star resorts, all-inclusive resorts, intimate inns and value-oriented properties.

About Saint Lucia Hotel & Tourism Association
As the principal tourism private sector agency in St. Lucia, the SLHTA is responsible for facilitating tourism sector development and management in St. Lucia. The SLHTA is a private non-profit membership organization that functions as the “official organization and national spokesperson” for the hospitality Industry and its wide membership. The SLHTA has a grouping of over two hundred members covering a wide segment of the economic spectrum of St. Lucia to include the tourism, manufacturing, agriculture and services sectors.

The SLHTA is dedicated to representing, informing, educating and upholding the interests of its membership in the tourism industry, which has earned it the reputation as the “Voice of the Hospitality Industry”.

Regatta Travel Solutions Inc.
Regatta Travel Solutions provides specialized online booking technology and marketing tactics for DMOs (Destination Marketing Organizations). DMOs that use Regatta to book travel on their sites can increase demand for their destination, lower the cost paid by suppliers per booking, and increase membership and participation for their organizations. Visit www.regattatravelsolutions.com for more details.

Media Contact:
Arancha Santos
Public Relations
Regatta Travel Solutions
PR@RegattaTravelSolutions.com
Tel: 786 447 1895