(ZIZ News) — A record breaking number of cruise passengers visited our shores on Thursday.
With the arrival of 5 cruise ships, Minister Of Tourism Hon. Lindsay Grant held a press conference, speaking to the significance of the arrival of over 16, 000 passengers, which he noted is almost half of the population of St. Kitts.
He described the day as historic, stating that this is a remarkable achievement for St. Kitts.
“We are delighted to be here on this historic occasion. We have 6000 passengers in the marina area which is significant for us and we have another 8 or 10 thousand at the port. This is not now going to be just a special occasion because as I look to the forthcoming season—not this season but the next season—5 ship days and 6 ship days are going to become almost the norm,” he said.
Minister Grant advised the taxi and tour operators, vendors, retail outlets, restaurants, bars and the various attractions to ensure that customer service continues to be of a high standard.
“The industry is growing from strength to strength. What is important for me however, is that we make sure that our customer service is still number one. We have to make sure that the service that we deliver to our visitors is par excellence. We cannot afford to diminish our customer service to our visitors,” he noted.
Owner of Sugarland Tours St. Kitts, Ian Nisbett said the arrival of the record breaking number of cruise passengers is great for business.
He said it gives tour operators the opportunity to enhance the country’s tourism product.
“We have five ships in and we are working very hard today to make this tourism product a lot better. It’s been going very good. I’ve done one booked tour today and I’m coming back for another one right now so it’s very very good,” he said.
Calling on St. Kitts on Thursday were the Adventure of the Seas of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Regal Princess of Princess Cruises, Aida Luna of Aida Cruises, Freedom of the Seas of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Tui Discovery of Thomson Cruises.