ST GEORGE’S – Grenada’s tourism sector is expected to be more active in another two months, with the resumption of commercial passenger flights from the United Kingdom (UK) and the reopening of Sandals Resort and other hotel properties.
“The UK airlines have now reported that they will be resuming flights from April which coincide with the movement by some of the hotels to reopen,” Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell disclosed during an interview on Friday.
He said Sandals, Grenada’s largest all-inclusive resort which has a wide cross-section of clients in the UK, United States and Canada, is set to reopen in early April as well.
In December 2020, the hotel announced a suspension of operations after the Government disclosed that a cluster of COVID-19 cases had been identified among staff and guests.
“All efforts are being made to put all systems in place to protect the country as far as the virus is a concerned and I must say that we are getting cooperation from the tourism sector at all levels,” the Prime Minister said.
On Friday, the Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association issued a statement disclosing that Sandals Resort Grenada had signed off on the Ministry of Health’s enhanced protocols that were designed to ensure the safety of guests, employees and the community.
“The protocols include increased testing of both guests and staff, added monitoring and security measures, while also maintaining Sandals’ high-quality luxury brand for vacationers,” said the statement.
On December 21, 2020, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said the Government had taken the decision to suspend all air traffic between Grenada and the UK, starting the previous day, until further notice.
The decision, which was in line with that taken by several other countries, was aimed at preventing, as best as possible, the introduction into Grenada of the COVID-19 strain discovered in the UK.
Scientists, the Government said at the time, had advised that the new strain posed a new health risk as it appeared to spread more easily and may be up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the earlier strain. To date, that variant has been identified in other jurisdictions around the world. (CMC)
