State Of Local Tourism
Chief Executive Officer of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority Racquel Browne says she is optimistic about the future of the local tourism industry as the year progresses.
In an interview with ZIZ News Miss Brown said since the borders reopened on October 31, the sector has been in a process of rebuilding.
She however noted that desire to travel and the demand for St. Kitts still exists in our key markets so she expects to see a gradual increase in visitors later in the year.
“We’ve only been open for about three plus months, so it’s been very slow, but I believe in thinking very positive(ly) because there are indications that with the vaccine rollout that started in the US as early as December, we’re seeing for our specific target market that the pent up demand is there. Persons want to travel. The vaccination is important to them. So I do believe that we will start to see some incremental changes going through to Q2, but our big focus is going to be on Winter 2021 into 2022,” she said.
Giving a report on what the visitors have been doing on island since the borders reopened Miss Browne explained that those who stay for 1-7 days have been “vacationing in place” which means they stay on property and use any amenities on property
She said “Most of the activities are done by appointment and they follow what we call the ‘social distancing requirement’. There’s only non-motorized watersports at this time. There’s no motorized watersports allowed. “
She continued “If they’re staying longer than 7 days and they’ve tested negative on the seventh day, between the 8th and 14th day before they depart they can do a ‘Highlights of St. Kitts’ tour which starts at Timothy Hill. We do a historical tour of Basseterre and then we go on to Brimstone Hill. And Brimstone Hill is also an attraction that has been approved so if you don’t want to do the ‘Highlights of St. Kitts’ tour and you just want to drive to Brimstone Hill you can do that. But this is all by reservation and it must be a travel-approved taxi or tour operator.”>>
Miss Brown reminded that although the growth this year is not expected to be dramatic, it will be consistent as the demand to travel still exists in key markets.