 |
| St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas and Minister of State with responsibility for Tourism, Sen. the Hon. Richard Skerritt speak with executives of cruise lines during the FCCA 12th Conference and Trade Show | |
|
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 2ND 2005 - St. Kitts, the Next Caribbean Adventure is growing in its capability to handle larger numbers of cruise visitors with quality on-shore experiences.
St. Kitts and Nevis Minister of State with responsibility for Tourism, Sen. the Hon. Richard Skerritt said that hosting the 12th Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association Conference and Trade Show at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort, positions St. Kitts to benefit from increased calls and passengers.
He said that with between 200,000 and 250,000 cruise ship passengers already stopping at St. Kitts, mostly during the Winter Season, he was hopeful that the numbers will increase significantly, based on discussions St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas and himself held during the Conference with top cruise line executives.
Mr. Skerritt said the opportunity during the Conference and Trade Show to indicate that the island's on-shore activities are growing.
Cruise lines go to destinations where they can make money. They come not because they like us. They come because they want to make some money. That is their business and we have to be in a position to help them to make money, while we benefit at the same time, said Skerritt, during a News Conference attended by Prime Minister Douglas, FCCA Chairman and President of Carnival Corporation, Mr. Mickey Arison and FCCA President, Ms. Michelle Paige.
Mr. Skerritt said the cruise lines are now aware that from 2006/2007 Cruise Ship Season and onwards St. Kitts will be ready to take the business to the next level.
Paige said that St. Kitts has seen its cruise passenger arrivals increased from 100,000 in 1998 to 130,000 in 2001, up to 170,000 in 2002 and 250,000 passengers are projected for this year.
She said there is a correlation that has existed with all the destinations that have hosted an FCCA Conference.
There has been incredible growth in the destinations that have hosted a conference in 18 to 24 months after that, said Paige, who pointed out that the increase in some cases was sustained and the growth kept going up, while in a few cases it went down.
It is really important that a destination works, as the purpose of the FCCA conference is to have tour operators, transportation providers and service providers work to offer the cruise ship passenger a satisfactory service, said Paige.
Prime Minister Douglas said the FCCA Conference and Trade Show was an opportunity to showcase the new opportunities that can be derived from the recent decision to close the 300 year old sugar industry.
Having the Conference here at this time has been strategically important to us, as the Government, with the support of the People decided to move away from sugar agriculture to tourism, said Prime Minister Douglas, who added that hosting the FCCA Conference was an opportunity to expose to our people what tourism, especially cruise tourism, is all about.
What better opportunity can we have to learn from those who are the architects and the main players in this industry and learn from them what we need to do to position St. Kitts and Nevis in cruise tourism in the future, said the Prime Minister.
He said although there will not be immediate benefits in terms of new ship calls, the psyche of the people have been positively impacted as we move from a sugar based economy to a services based industry.
Dr. Douglas said the FCCA Conference has been of tremendous benefit to his ruling Labour Party Administration.
This has been a tremendous success in making the point that this is what services are all about. The exposure of the cruise industry is new to us and it helps us to understand what we need to do to ensure that we can benefit from this kind of activity, said Prime Minister Douglas, who added that the relationship between the FCCA and St. Kitts and Nevis is one of mutual respect and understanding.
