St. Kitts Lauded as Wonderful Product by Minister Skerritt
By Joyette Mills-Ward
Business Reporter -SKNVibes.com
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| Hon. Richard Skerritt, Minister of State responsible for Tourism |
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MINISTER of State with responsibility for Tourism, Hon. Richard Skerritt declared to an assembly of Marriott Resorts regional managers that St. Kitts is a ‘wonderful product’.
The Tourism Minister addressed the group at a cocktail held in their honour at the St. Kitts Marriott Golf Club in Frigate Bay on July 22.
The Marriott & Caribbean Renaissances & Mexico (MARCAM) company provides worldwide marketing for the eight Marriott and Renaissance Hotels in the Caribbean and Latin American territories.
The event marked the first time that the management of the St. Kitts Marriott Resort were able to attract the MARCAM Sales Intensity Group to convene at their franchise.
As key note speaker, Skerritt reminded the management group that they were facing challenging times and that they would have to be very motivated, organised, and convincing in order to sell the St. Kitts Marriott as a tourism product. He went on to say, “We think that in St. Kitts we have a wonderful product and we know that in the wider Caribbean, we have the best warm weather destination in the world. But we want to do what we can in the government sector to help you to make your sale, to help you do what you do so well, and to thank you for ... continuing to do it.” ~~Adz:Right~~
Skerritt described tourism as a very ‘competitive global industry’, telling the regional managers that their “knowledge, information and skill” are what would make the difference. He added that nothing really made the difference more than the quality of the product being sold.
“We believe that St. Kitts is a product that speaks for itself. It’s the kind of place that you have to visit to really understand what makes this place so special.
“There are some very exciting things down the road for St Kitts, but none will be more exciting than the Marriott brand that has been here for the last five years, and has been making such a tremendous difference to St. Kitts and allowed us to really reach another level in the market place.”
Skerritt however, intimated that the St. Kitts Marriott would exist on the island without some competition of the same type of quality they provide to their clientele, indicating that major developments in the tourism industry were on the way such as the Ritz Carlton and the Mandarin Oriental.
Later in the proceedings, Simon Bell, Director of Marketing for the St. Kitts Marriott Resort announced that the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (C.F.B.C) would be benefitting from a group donation of books to the hospitality section of the institute of higher learning. Sam Nariani, Director of the CFBC noted that the books would be a welcome addition to the institutions’ library and expressed sincere thanks for the donation that he said would “aid in the improvement of the people of St Kitts & Nevis”.
