Prime Minister Harris Indicates The Tourism Sector Is Resurrecting

Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 11, 2022 (SKNIS): During his monthly press conference on February 10, 2022, held at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Lime Kiln, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, indicates that the tourism sector is coming back to life.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism sector has been one of the sectors that have been most affected, impacting economies, livelihoods, public services, and opportunities.

“While not yet close to the buoyancy of 2018 and 2019, the 2021-2022 cruise season (October 21st to September 22nd) is off to an encouraging start with 158 cruise calls so far and 138,022 cruise passengers,” Prime Minister Harris said. “This compares well to the 2020-2021 season when for 9 months (October 2020 to June 2021) there were zero cruise calls and consequently zero passengers.”

He also said that given the restrictions on travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, cruise ships have been sailing below their maximum capacity as a health precautionary measure.

Air travel has seen a drastic increase from last year’s air passenger arrivals, he said.

“For January 2022, 6,683 passengers arrived in the Federation, up 5,324 over the 1,350 passengers recorded in 2021. This is a very good start compared to 2021.”