Tourism Minister appoints members of St Lucia Tourism Authority and Invest St Lucia

St Lucia: Minister of Tourism, Dr Ernest Hilaire on Tuesday announced the list of persons appointed under St Lucia Tourism Authority. Experienced lawyer and former Deputy Chairperson of the St Lucia Tourist Board, Thaddeus Antoine has been appointed as Chairman of the Tourism Authority and Lyndon Arnold has been appointed as Chairman and Deputy Managing Director of BOSL. 

In a statement, Dr Ernest Hilaire said, “I explained my thinking in searching for Board members for the various Boards which fall under my portfolio. Some have been announced and of course the usual suspects have been commenting and accusing. It is really amazing that the same people that raped and scraped the country are now becoming the custodians of good governance.”

Appointments also includes: 

St Lucia Tourism Authority:

1. Chairman: Thaddeus Antoine – Experienced lawyer and former Deputy Chairperson of the St.Lucia Tourist Board

2. President of the SLHTA: Paul Collymore 

3. President of the Vacation Rentals Association: Thomas Leonce – Hails from Laborie. 

4. President of the Soufriere Regional Development Foundation: Ernest Augier – Hails from Soufriere.

5. Savvy Gadjadher – Entrepreneur (Youth and female)

6. Donalyn Vittet – PS Tourism (Female)

7. Grace Michel – Chief Operating Officer at SLASPA (Female)

Invest St Lucia:

1. Lyndon Arnold – Chairman, Deputy Managing Director of BOSL.

2. Michael Willius – Entrepreneur. Former Diplomat. Hails from the South.

3. Paula James – Manufacturer. Female.

4. Jodie Lubin – Personal Assistant to PM. Youth. Female. Hails from Mon Repos

5. Leo Francis – Financial Manager at Citizens by Investment Programme.

6 Roston Taylor – Manager. 

7. Donalyn Vittet – PS Investment Female 

Dr Hilaire added that the new government is considering persons who are youth, female and geographic spread. “We looked for experience and freshness. The Chairperson had to be someone who was a proven professional, was experienced, was qualified and someone who would be working beyond the call of duty whenever asked. In such a case, I wanted someone I knew personally and had an established relationship with to avoid any unnecessary distractions.”

Minister also announced that soon he would list the Boards for the Citizenship by Investment, Events Company of St Lucia and Cultural Development Foundation next week once the formalities are completed. 

“Not everyone will agree with the choices but you cannot deny these are highly talented Saint Lucians who will add a breath of freshness to the work of these Boards. We will clean up the mess where it exists, we will build on what was working and we will make Saint Lucia proud,” Tourism Minister added.