BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, November 15, 2024 (MMS-SKN) -- As part of observance of the Tourism Awareness Month 2024, the Ministry of Tourism has organised a tour dubbed ‘Sun-Kissed Secrets of St. Kitts’ on Sunday November 17 that will take visitors to places of historical significance in the Whitegate area.
This year’s Tourism Awareness Month celebrations are being observed under the theme ‘Tourism for Tomorrow: Driven by Community, Committed to Sustainability’. According to the Minister of Tourism, the Hon Marsha Henderson, the Ministry is looking into the future while ensuring that the tourism industry benefits all in line with the Government’s Agenda to transition into a sustainable island state.
“On Sunday for Tourism Month we are having a tour ‘Sun-Kissed Secrets of St. Kitts’,” said the Hon Henderson. “As part of Tourism Month last year, we introduced tours. We did the ‘Black Sand Sunset Tour’, a historic tour of Sandy Point, because when you understand the product, you are able to sell it better. This year we are focusing on the Whitegate area.”
Hon Henderson, who is also the Federal Minister of Civil Aviation, International Transport; Employment and Labour; and Urban Development, made the remarks on Thursday evening November 14 when she addressed a Labour Constituency Number Six General Meeting that was held at the Saddlers Primary School. She was accompanied by her Personal Assistant Mrs Samantha Charles, and some members of Labour Constituency #2 Branch.
Sun-Kissed Secrets of St. Kitts, according to Minister Henderson, will take visitors to the Queenie’s Well, formerly known as Boo Well, where St. Paul’s heroine Queenie almost died in 1934 following a disagreement with her boyfriend who threw her in it. Someone found her in the morning, and according to history, she lived for a long time, and people on the tour will get the full details on Sunday.
After Queenie’s Well, the tour will proceed on to Belmont Estate. However, the Minister said that details of the rest of the tour will be revealed on Sunday.
“This is part of our efforts to decentralise tourism,” said the Hon Henderson. “We have a strip in Frigate Bay, last year for Tourism Month we launched the strip in Pump Bay, Fig Tree, and now we are moving the culinary experience into the Whitegate area. This is in keeping with the ‘Venture Deeper’ campaign that we are running in Tourism, where we are encouraging our visitors when they come, to venture beyond the beach and to have experience with our food, culture, our people, and our rich history.”
The meeting which was chaired by Vice Chairperson of the Labour Constituency Number Six Branch, Mr Don Grant, was also addressed by the Area Parliamentary Representative and Senior Minister the Rt. Hon Denzil Douglas, and the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Whitegate Development Corporation, Mr Ellis Hazel.
The Minister of Tourism hailed Dr Douglas, who was the Prime Minister when the country was introduced to tourism following closure of the sugar industry in 2004.
“It was a brilliant decision taken at the time - brilliant to diversify the economy,” she said. “Sugar was no longer competitive as Dr Douglas would have told us, and so he had to take a decision to move in a direction that would diversify the economy to make sure that people in St. Kitts and Nevis could eat.”
While making his remarks, the Rt. Hon Dr Denzil Douglas, Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs; International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Economic Development and Investment, noted that the address by Minister Henderson was a demonstration, to a large extent, of how the country has transitioned from its dependence on sugar, to now its dependence on tourism.
“It has also shown how tourism is expanding and developing not only in the areas of Basseterre where you have the cruise ships, and the Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw Airport that bring people into the country,” said Dr Douglas. He noted that the minister’s address also showed what people can do to make a contribution, and how they can benefit from the tourists who are coming here in terms of charting out their livelihoods etc.
Mr Ellis Hazel, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Whitegate Development Corporation, paid homage to the Rt. the Hon Dr Douglas noting that “the whole idea and organisation that we call the Whitegate Development Corporation was really under his stewardship - his innovative thinking. I am 100% certain that it will form a vital part of his legacy, not just as a politician, and not just as a medical doctor in his previous career, but also as a resident of the Republic of St. Paul’s and the surrounding communities.”
He said that the Whitegate Development Corporation, which is a state-owned entity that covers the area Newton Ground to Bellevue, was established by law in 1999 and during that time it has attracted two significant hotels in that part of the island, Kittitian Hill and Ramada Hotel.
Mr Hazel, who was accompanied by two Directors of the Corporation Mr Don Grant and Ms Sandra Swanston, said of the two hotels: “I think that is a significant achievement, largely due to the hard work of our member of parliament the Rt. Hon Dr Denzil Douglas.
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