BASSETERRE St. Kitts, May 29th, 2014 -- A recent propaganda item from the government regarding the changing of British Airways (BA) itinerary resulting in fewer stay over days in St Kitts, led us to do some investigation into what was happening to our tourism industry and why our clandestine, secretive and illegitimate government was not informing the tourism stakeholders and our country at large, that our stay over visitor arrivals face more problems, and more challenges.
This failure in stay over /hotel subsector when translated on the ground means fewer jobs in tourism during the offseason. It means less hours at work for those at Marriott Hotel, Timothy Beach Hotel, Bird Rock Beach Hotel etc. It means personsin our hotels are receiving less than a full week’s work and less than a full week’s pay. In statistical terms they are among the growing number of underemployed featured in the employment statistics.
We have entered the dull season for the tourism sector. It looks dark. We take no joy in reporting the harsh reality uncovered by our investigation and research. The new Seaborne out of San Juan is not getting the kind of demand we would like. We are advised by airline officials that its loads are very low. Flights from New York, Atlanta, Charlotte and the extra weekend Miami flight will stop this May. Hon. Richard Skerritt, our chief tourism talker is yet to inform the public who is paying him a big salary and allowing him lofty travelling perks includinglimo driven cars in London. Mr. Skerritt seems to forget thatit is our tax payers who are paying him, and he ought to account to us.
Our reliable airline contact has informedSt. Kitts will have only daily Miami and Seaborne services out of the USA.
Air Canada out of Toronto (YYZ) has taken a break since April. A major setback for our Canadian visitors yet not a word from tourism talker, Richard Skerritt. US Airways out of Charlotte is also cutting back this season. Its Saturday flights have been suspended since early May. It will resume and then again suspend its flights into St Kitts from September until October.
American Airline flights out of Miami have been cut. Thursday and Sunday second daily flights were suspended/ discontinuedfrom early Mayto mid-June and will be suspended againfrom around the middle of August until the beginning of November.
America Airline out of JFK has always been challenging. In February 2014 total arrivals into St. Kitts from JFK fell by double digits compared to January 2014.
DELTA out of Atlanta has bid us goodbye until October 2014. Such a protracted break of about 30 week’s absence of DELTAtells us a sorry story about market acceptance of these routes.
Team Unity believes in accountability and transparency. We cannot hide the failures of our tourism stay over plant which accounts for 95 percent of tourism revenues and hope like the ostrich that the problem of market failures, management and leadership structural weaknesses, outdated plant and mediocre service will go away by osmosis.
The Douglas regime is out of its depths. It has become useless and intransparent.A burden to taxpayers. It is time for Team Unity to turn our tourism fortunes around. With the help of the people, Team Unity will repair the broken tourism sector and cause shared prosperity for all.
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