BASSETERRE St.Kitts,18th August, 2011 – Cruise visitor arrivals in St. Kitts are expected to increase by more than 20 percent in the upcoming October 2011 - September 2012 cruise ship season.
This was announced by Senator Ricky Skerritt, Minister of Tourism and International Transport, while addressing a local cruise stakeholders’ launch of the upcoming St. Kitts Cruise Ship Schedule on Tuesday at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort.
“It is a significant achievement for St. Kitts to be able to forecast a fifth consecutive year of arrivals growth for the upcoming season,” Skerritt said. “From the bookings we have so far we have projected that more than 650,000 visitors will arrive by September 2012.”
Skerritt said that future arrival increases can only be sustained by improving the quality of the visitor experience for cruise passengers and he asked cruise stakeholders to continue to make this their number one priority.
According to Senator Skerritt, “The ships will keep coming only if their passengers enjoy our island and business owners continue to do profitable business in St. Kitts. So visitor feedback is extremely important.”
The Tourism Minister pointed out that the performance of the cruise sector will continue to be robust if all stakeholders work in partnership together to further improve St. Kitts’ attractiveness and competitiveness for cruising, while sustaining the gains made to date. “Every individual customer must experience only the best that St Kitts has to offer”, Skerritt said.
The unveiling of the new 2011-2012 St. Kitts Cruise Schedule took place at the conclusion of the Cruise Stakeholders Meeting where challenges and opportunity of the upcoming Cruise year were discussed with tour operators, primate petting vendors, hair braiders, taxi operators, law enforcement officers, craft vendors and water sports operators, along with senior officials from the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, Legal Department, the St. Christopher Air and Sea Port Authority and the Urban Development Corporation.
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