Soca Awards Organization, Inc. (SAO) is holding their official NYC iSA 6 Launch on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at Mars 2112 in New York City.

The Soca Awards Organization (SAO) will take you to Mars and back…Mars 2112 that is! This space-themed venue is ideal for SAO’s official New York City launch which will take place on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 from 6 pm – 8 pm. Mars 2112, located in the heart of the Times Square district, prides themselves on an “environment that catapults travelers to a completely new world,” and SAO is certain that once patrons get a taste of the Soca experience, the International Soca Awards will be on everyone’s minds. At this launch, Soca lovers will be able to see why SAO is the organization that is Taking Soca to Higher Heights. Media is invited to join this event, please RSVP to info@socaawards.com no later than Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 3 pm.

iSA 6 will be held at the St. Kitts Marriott Event Center “DOME” under the kind patronage of the Honorable Minister of State for Tourism, Sports and Culture, Senator Richard “Ricky” Skerritt on Saturday, October 18th, 2008, please log-on to www.socaawards.com for up to date information.

SAO will like to extend special thanks to Mars 2112 and to Lexy Brooks and VIP Connected as the official sponsors of the 2008 NYC iSA 6 launch. Mars 2112 is located at 1633 Broadway at 51st Street, New York City 10019. For more information on Mars 2112, please visit www.mars2112.com or call 212-582-2112.

Support for ISA 6 is provided by St. Kitts Tourism Authority, St. Kitts Marriott Resort & The Royal Beach Casino, HYPE TV, Royal St. Kitts Hotel & Casino, ZIZ TV, ZIZ Radio, socaawards.com, socatvhd.com, Winn FM 98.9, Sugar City Roc 90.3 FM, Radio One 94.1FM, Red Hot Radio 98.5FM, WACK 90.1FM, sknvibes.com, b Mobile, Club Kactus, sknentertainment.com, D’ Celebrities Mas Crew, Shabeau Magazine, Shabeau Style TV, V.I.P Connected, Pour Moi – Cognac, JTE Spirits, W4 Tours Travel & Promotion, tropicalfete.com, socaordie.com, Allan T. Photography, thefrontlineradio.com, toronto-lime.com, wukupnuff.com, tswradio.com, 416.Soca.Mix, Virgin Island FASHIONWEEK.COM, caribbeanmecca.com, smallislandmix.com, chinradio.com, brooklynmix.com, St. Kitts Bottling Company Ltd – AQUA VITA, cbean.tv, scruffytv.com and scruffyradio.com.

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Preliminary figures released by the St Lucia Tourist Board show, the number of stopover tourists (visitors staying 24 hours or more) arriving from the United Kingdom, increased by 2% in July 2008 to 7,060 visitors, compared with the 6,932 visitors who arrived from the UK in July 2007.

The overall number of stopover visitors arriving this July in St Lucia declined slightly however by 2%, from 29,825 in July 2007 to 29,095 this July, due largely to declines in arrivals from Caribbean markets. The volume of cruise visitors increased by 15%, when compared with July 2007, growing from 20,024 visitors in 2007, to 20,954 visitors this July.

The number of visitors from the USA fell slightly by 1%, from 11,522 in July 2007 to 11,411 this July. Arrivals from Canada showed a good 20% increase from 809 in July 2007 to 973 this July. The number of visitors from other European countries jumped 16% compared with last July, from 1,075 to 1,243, led by a strong increase from Ireland (up 1,022%) from 23 arrivals in July 2007 to 258 this July. Arrivals from Germany (+21%) and France (+16%) also showed good increases.

Traffic from Caribbean markets showed a 13% decline compared with July 2007, falling from 9,111 visitors last year to 7,945 in July 2008. Whilst traffic from Trinidad and Tobago grew by 5%, from 991 last July to 1,041 this July, the number of arrivals from Martinique fell by 13%, from 3,675 in July 2007 to 3,193 this year, and from Barbados fell by 20%, from 1,557 arrivals last year to 1,250 in July 2008. Stopover traffic increased by 7% in the first seven months of 2008.

Through the first seven months of 2008 the overall number of stopover visitors was 7% higher than for the same seven months of 2007, increasing from 177,646 visitors in 2007 to 190,325 in 2008.

Traffic from the USA increased by 6.5% in the first seven months of 2008, up from 70,502 arrivals in 2007 to 75,085 in the first seven months of 2008. The volume of stopovers from the United Kingdom also showed strong growth, increasing by 8%, from 48,603 arrivals in 2007 to 52,421 in the first seven months of 2008. The number of stopover arrivals from the Caribbean fell by 2% in the first seven months of 2008 compared with the same seven months of 2007, with traffic from Martinique growing by 2%, but declining 2% from Barbados.

The number of cruise visitors to St Lucia increased by 10% in the first seven months of 2008 compared with the same seven months of 2007, growing from 359,949 visitors in 2007 to 397,115 this year, with cruise ships making 13 more calls in the first seven months of 2008 compared with the same seven months of 2007.

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