EXCEL, LONDON (November 9, 2009) -- Nevis is attracting attention at the 30th edition of World Travel Market (WTM) which opened Monday morning at the Excel exhibition centre in London, with the news that it will soon be a carbon neutral island with the coming on stream of the geothermal project.
“The geothermal initiative is a plus because tourists nowadays are very sensitive in terms of where they travel,” said head of the Nevis delegation at the World Travel Market Tyrone O’Flaherty, who is also the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Tourism. “They need to know that people are taking care of their own environment.
“Nevis has recognised the importance of being one of the green partners in tourism in the Caribbean. Some of the hotels, especially the Oualie Beach Hotel have already started, and I was very pleased to see Golden Rock (Plantation Inn) as well, where they have several new upgrades to their facility, which would play into that line.”
He explained that once the geothermal project gets off the ground, it would place Nevis in a category that is totally different from all the other islands in the Caribbean, pointing out that it will probably be the first Caribbean island which will depart completely from fossil fuels and just go with a totally carbon neutral fuel.
While in Britain and Europe in general airlines are going are to be rewarded for keeping within the carbon limits allotted to them, O’Flaherty said: “Our reward will come from the people who see that Nevis is doing something. We are playing our part in helping to make the Caribbean a carbon neutral zone and from our standpoint, (Nevis will be) the greenest island in the Caribbean.”
Nevis is sharing a booth with the St. Kitts at this premier tourism event. Others representing Nevis are Keesha Jones, Deputy Chairman of the Nevis Tourism Authority, Julie Claxton a tourism officer from the authority, Helen Kidd of Kidd and Associates, Jamie Holmes of the Nisbet Plantation Inn, Richie Lupinacci of the Hermitage Inn and Dumani Ndebele of Nevis FBO (Fixed Base Operation) Services Limited.
“World Travel market has always been something extremely important for Nevis because everybody knows it is the premier tourism marketing event in the world,” observed O’Flaherty. “I am glad that we have been here today, because when you look around and you see what the other countries are offering, global recession or not, everybody has tried very much and tried to have a presence.”
He reported that on the first day they met with many potential investors who are interested in the island. Following the successful radio interview held at last year’s World Travel Market, he was on Monday interview by the WTM Radio which will be in form of a podcast that will be available for downloads from the World Travel Market website.
In the meantime, Nevis Tourism Authority’s Deputy Chairman Keesha Jones has made an appeal to hoteliers in Nevis to take an interest in the luxury show that takes place at the Olympia Exhibition Hall at Earls Court in London a week before the WTM, as many holidaymakers attend it.
The Nevis team at the luxury show, which also included Julie Claxton and Richie Lupinacci, got a lot of positive response and according to Jones, they found out that the British holidaymakers plan a year ahead for their vacation. They found out that some holidaymakers who had attended the luxury show last year had made reservations to go to St. Kitts for this Christmas and January season.
“I would encourage all hoteliers to be a part of the luxury show, because if you are not there we can only do so much to promote the properties, but if you are there physically you do a lot more talking and convince them that your property is the ideal place to visit for a vacation,” commented Jones.
She reported that while at the luxury show at Olympia last week a number of persons showed an interest in visiting Nevis, and the Hermitage Plantation confirmed that somebody made a booking to visit Nevis for the Christmas season this year, after the person would have talked to the Nevis Tourism Authority pair.
