BASSETERRE St. Kitts, February 9th 2012 - Three of the federation’s leading tourism sector organizations met in a historic joint meeting at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort Thursday Mornings. Board members of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, the Hotel and Tourism Association (HTA) and the Nevis Tourism Authority met for the first time under the theme “make a plan-set a goal-work for it-look around and assess the results.”
The objective of the meeting as outlined by Mr. Alphonso O’Garo the chairman of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority was to foster and strengthen collaboration between the three organizations.
Listed among the goals were; (a) recognition of benefits of collaborating as a strategy for the continued development of our tourism industry, which has seen significant and steady increases in cruise passenger arrivals to St. Kitts’ Port Zante, (b) the prioritization of marketing strategies and challenges that needs to be addressed and (c) the adaptation of initiatives that would provide the platform and framework for further collaboration.
The Chairman of the Hotel & Tourism Association Mr. Nick Menon said the meeting of the three tourism bodies was long overdue and it augurs well for a unified strategy in promoting both destinations. He explained that the HTA had for sometime being requesting such a meeting of the minds to discuss resources related issues.
“Given the state of the international economies which remains a competitive market place, it is important for us to prioritize the use of resources in tourism. To this end the use of the boards of the SKTA, the NTA and the HTA is vital to be focus in our approach…this is a first step in a meaningful path forward.”
Keisha Jones the chairwoman of the Nevis Tourism Authority expressed hope that this historic gathering becomes a regular feature on the broad tourism agenda. She said “there is a clarion call for unity amongst the three bodies since we are working towards the same gold. It also demonstrates unprecedented opportunity for the twin island federation to claim its place on the world stage and create more prosperity for its citizens.”
She believes that enlisting the cooperation of all stakeholders in meaningful ways would help protect the federation’s “most crucial industry which accounts for between 60-75 percent of GDP.”
A major challenge for the destination is to remain viable in the market place, especially in these tough economic times where there is less revenue to spend on marketing. Mr. O’Garo emphasized the need for greater collaboration between the three organizations as it relates to financing, marketing and promotion activities that would increase our visibility regionally and internationally. He is convinced that Thursday’s meeting begins a more consistent collaboration among the organizations for the greater benefit of the two destinations.
Due to the persistent economic recession and financial crisis small hoteliers insist that occupancy continues to decline. They also blame airlift and high taxes on tickets to and from the islands as another contributing factor to reduced booking at their hotels. Currently American Airlines, Delta, US Airways, British Airways, Air Canada, American Eagle and Liat fly regular direct flights into Robert L Bradshaw International the main gateway to the federation. American operate a weekly flight out of JFK New York and a daily flight from Miami, Delta flies weekly from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, US Airways operates a weekly flight from its home base in Charlotte North Carolina, British Airways operates a twice weekly flight from Gatwick, London, while Air Canada operates a weekly flight from Toronto, American Eagle has daily flights from San Juan and Liat operates numerous flights daily from various parts of the Caribbean.
Meantime, the CEO of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority Mrs. Rosecita Jeffers reveled that efforts to improve visitor arrivals to the federation during the off season will soon intensify with television advertisements on two US Cable networks, namely Bravo and E! This news was welcomed by members of the HTA who are hoping this would assist greatly to increase their occupancy figures during the months of May to October.
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