Press Release

CASTRIES, St. Lucia (February 16, 2007) – It may be considered a bit early, but organizers of the St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association’s (SLHTA) Food and Rum Festival, held for the first time last October, are already predicting a bigger and better event this year.

Neysha Soodeen (photo - right), Managing Director of Toute Bagai Publishing of Trinidad and Tobago – publishers of the “MACO” series of international magazines – will again be in charge of this year’s event.

On her latest visit to St. Lucia this month, Ms. Soodeen said she was expecting a higher level of participation from hoteliers, chefs and restaurateurs from across the Caribbean as well as internationally for this year’s Food and Rum Festival due to the successful media response from the 2006 event.

Ms. Soodeen was here to meet with Tourism Minister Allen Chastanet as well as the local team which worked with her to stage last year’s inaugural festival. She said this year’s festival will be produced locally, in its entirety.

Describing last year’s Festival as a work in progress, she explained that now armed with practical experience, she now has a clear vision of the execution plan of this year’s event to make it more successful. “Now we are in a position to hire a proper production company to undertake the potential enormity of this event. Last year we incurred quite a substantial debt which was borne by MACO, but this was expected and is seen as an investment into St. Lucia. I hope that this is the beginning of a great partnership between Maco Magazine and the SLHTA as well as the Tourist Board,” she said.

Ms. Soodeen believes that the natural beauty of the island and the friendly disposition of its people enhance the developmental potential of the island. She described St. Lucia as having the potential of Barbados in terms of its tourism and economic development. "There are already some great villa and resort projects in St. Lucia and these developments will make St. Lucia a Caribbean destination to reckon with,” she said.

Ms. Soodeen explained that the Food and Rum Festival was intended to cater to the new influx of tourism, whether it is hotel or villa tourism. “I think it will also benefit St. Lucians to expand their horizons on Caribbean gastronomy,” she said.

She said planning for this year’s Festival already started. The event will be held from November 1 to 4.