 The recovery of St. Lucia's tourism industry from the impacts of COVID-19 is showing positive signs. Minister for Tourism Honourable Dr Ernest Hiller says the trend has been strong as the Ministry of Tourism oversees the safe reopening of the sector. In a message commemorating World Tourism Day, Honourable Hiller noted that the theme for this year's observance, Tourism for Inclusive Growth, is in keeping with the thrust of the government. With the reopening of the industry and further development in the COVID-19 era, we must address the distribution of wealth to all the actors within the tourism value chain to increase employment opportunities and reduce poverty. It is the efforts of my government to ensure that as part of employment opportunities, St. Lucia's become owners and operators of more tourism businesses with a focus on developing strong linkages with agriculture, the youth economy and the digital age. Already many of us depend on tourism, from our travel agents to airport staff, taxi drivers, tour companies, hotel workers, vendors and artists, villa rental owners, boat operators and water spot operators, beach and market vendors, entertainers, crafts persons and duty free shops just to name a few. 15,000 St. Lucia's are employed in the tourism industry. The tourism minister says the island can see major gains as the global prediction for the tourism industry is the return of the 62 million jobs if the vaccine uptake maintains space and travel restrictions are lifted. St. Lucia has made great progress in the reopening of the industry and to date approximately 8,500 workers have been re-employed. A total of 290 vocation rental properties have been certified and experiencing higher bookings. 35 hotels have reopened their doors and reporting satisfactory occupancy rates. Over 20 car rental companies and over 1,500 taxi drivers have returned to work. The cruise sector has reopened, albeit at low volumes. Since the relaxation of travel protocols of vaccinated persons, the destination has recorded a total of 110,116 days over arrivals to date, achieving almost 54% of pre-COVID-19 figures for the second quarter, as well as exceeding predictions by 11% for the overall targets as part of the recovery. Sustaining a responsible reopening, Honourable Dr Ernest Taylor says, requires a national commitment by also inclusions to adhere to the protocols, build vaccine confidence with strong uptake and focus on taking advantage of opportunities for growth.