…caution still prevalent
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE new cruise season has gotten underway and it is expected to be a bumper one as a travel boom is expected for the remainder of the years, but local officials will also be wary of the challenges the world is facing.
According to projections from the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, it is expected that St. Kitts would see more than 40 cruise calls during the month of November, with the likes of Harmony of the Seas, Visions of the Sea, Wonders of the Seas and Aida Luna making several calls to the island.
The Federation is scheduled to receive three vessels at Port Zante - Aida Luna, Britannia and Star Pride.
Over the last several weeks, the Minister of Tourism, Marsha Henderson, has been meeting with various stakeholders to iron out any differences and outlining her expectations of them as well as work with them to provide a better product for the new season.
Speaking with SKNVibes before the start of the new season, Chief Executive Officer at the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Tommy Thompson described it as a great outlook for the 2022/2023 season, where it was forecast to surpass the 2021/2022 season but might not surpass the pre-COVID levels.
He also addressed concerns surrounding the possibility that some of the ships that encountered challenges at the start of the pandemic that they might not return, but explained that there is a good relations and nothing was broke because, at the time, they did not meet the threshold for the positive COVID cases on board a vessel to dock.
“All the major cruise lines that call to the Federation are coming back,” declared Thompson.
There were concerns that the Federation’s ‘bread and butter’ industry, tourism, will take a hit this year.
Those concerns may not necessarily be impacted immediately due to the rising inflation since tickets for cruises are booked well in advance of the travel.
International agencies such as the IMF, are projecting large scale drop-off in tourism numbers for this year owing to the impact the rising cost of living and mitigation measures would have on the travel industry.
It is against that backdrop that they expect small tourism-dependent nations like St. Kitts and Nevis to be cautious in spending due to the falloff.
Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Timothy Antoine is also cautioning about the impact that inflation and its mitigation measures, such as the rising interest rates in the United States, would have on consumer spending.
There has been talks by economic experts that the United States and several other major markets are expected to hit a recession or are already at that stage, which could have a significant impact on the ocal tourism sector.
“...it is too early to say that there is going to be an immediate impact on tourism, but if recession is not short term or short lived, if it extends for a year or more, you will eventually see it with a lag on our tourism,” Antoine noted during an interview on the sidelines of the 2022 Annual Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
But while Thompson cautioned that the pandemic is not necessarily over, he reminded that there is a pent-up demand for travel which would be reflected in the overall number of cruise ships and the level of beds being seen across the Federation.
“So you have the desire to travel in terms of those persons who would have saved money during the pandemic. So there is more cash and less debt, so it is a perfect way for people to go and travel to their favourite destination,” said Thompson during a September St. Kitts Tourism Authority Press conference.
The Government is currently working to rebound the sector, as it is often described as the ‘bread and butter’ industry of the Federation.
According to the SKTA, it is difficult at this time to put an exact number to the amount of vessels expected arrive in the Federation .
