 St. Lucia welcomed the Inaugural British Airways Service from Guyana on March 27, 2023, just hours after it was introduced at the Cheddy-Jegan International Airport in Guyana. The new service from London-Gatwick is the only non-stop flight between Guyana and the UK via St. Lucia. Participating in the inaugural ceremony in Guyana was a 23-member delegation led by Hon. Dr. Ernestillar, comprising officials of the Ministry of Tourism, St. Lucia Tourism Authority, private sector tourism partners, and the trade and export sector. This flight between Guyana and St. Lucia would help a lot in building that bond, that Caribbean unity, that Caribbean togetherness, but it would also help us as we welcome visitors from Guyana. We need to start thinking about multi-destination marketing so you can come to Guyana, stay in St. Lucia, you can come to St. Lucia and come over to Guyana with the ease that this flight offers. Minister of Tourism, industry and commerce in Guyana, Hon. O'Neish Walrond, joined the delegation in St. Lucia on Monday night, signalling an important milestone for both countries with the cutting of the ribbon. Speaking at the welcome ceremony held at the IMJet Center, CEO of the St. Lucia Tourism Authority, Lauren Charles St. Jules, expressed that this connection would build strong links between the countries, opening gateways for new opportunities and easier access to South America. We are so honored tonight that we can start a partnership with Guyana. Back in February, we launched a sales mission where, along with a team here from St. Lucia, we went to Guyana to pre-sell the flight and to pre-sell what St. Lucia is about. So we are privileged that our minister, she's alone tonight, but we are privileged that she represents this huge country of Guyana and all the lovely people of Guyana. We see this as immense opportunity for St. Lucia to develop a partnership for travel, tourism, trade, education, friendship between St. Lucia and Guyana. Hon. O'Neish Walrond noted that St. Lucia and Guyana would not only welcome visitors from the UK and add to the demand for regional travel, but would strengthen the partnership between the two countries. The fact that we have so many Guyanese here, the diaspora, you know, it brought me to thinking about our region, the Caribbean region and the fact that we really are one. We really, the common thread of our culture heritage all ties in together and when it comes to tourism and our tourism product, that is what this partnership is all about. Creating similarities, finding synergies and marketing that to the rest of the world. So we're really not in competition Guyana and St. Lucia for our tourism product. This tremendous opportunity that British Airways has afforded us as a region, it has really opened us, opened Guyana, St. Lucia, but it has also opened the entire region to more opportunities. And that is the way that we, I and I believe our government or administration would see this opportunity, that it opens opportunity for tourism to grow in both areas. The new route between London and Guyana via St. Lucia will operate twice weekly on Mondays and Thursdays. With the demand for regional travel and destination St. Lucia, British Airways began servicing Tobago via St. Lucia on Tuesday, March 28th, 2023. This new connection will provide travelers with convenient access to Tobago and promote tourism to both destinations.