“We are underlining St. Kitts is a fantastic destination” says Michele Paige

ST. KITTS COPS FCCA CONFERENCE AND TRADE SHOW, 100 CRUISE EXECUITIVES AND 1000 CLIENTS

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas; FCCA President, Ms. Michele PFCCA Director of Operations, Mr. Frank Torres and Chief Executive Officer of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Ms. Christine Walwyn at the Press Conference on Tuesday.

“I want to say thanks to the President of the FCCA, Ms. Michele Paige, to bring this very important conference here that will bring 100 cruise ship Executives and over 1,000 delegates to St. Kitts and Nevis,” said St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas as he expressed gratitude for the “confidence placed in the Government and the People of this country, especially those are responsible for the development of the tourism sector here in St. Kitts and Nevis.”

The top FCCA official acknowledged that it is the “cruise industry that wants to thank you (Prime Minister Douglas) for your partnership to our industry. It’s through the Prime Minister’s vision that he has embarked many years ago on a very proactive partnership with the cruise industry.”

“The cruise ships are coming. The cruise ships are coming. The cruise ships are coming to St. Kitts. I can tell you that when the Prime Minister came and met with my Chairman, Mickey Arison, Mickey committed to the Prime Minister all of his resources which are considerable – seeing that he owns eight cruise lines himself, to make it possible for St. Kitts to reap the benefits of the cruise industry,” said Paige, who listed the benefits initiated by Prime Minister Douglas to have St. Kitts and Nevis “reap more benefits.”

Ms. Paige said the Cruise Industry in the Caribbean spends US$400 million alone to market the Caribbean region that they bring cruise ships to.

Princess Cruises "Golden Princess" was docked at Port Zante on Tuesday.

“That means that in addition to the resources that St. Kitts spends to be able to get the word out about St. Kitts to the consumers, travel agencies; the cruise industry is doing that. When they say that they are going to bring a ship to St. Kitts, that means that they are going to market St. Kitts,” said Paige, who added: “We are underlining St. Kitts is a fantastic destination.”

Paige said cruise passengers spend an average of US$125 in destinations they call at and a programme has initiated to determine the exact spending patters in St. Kitts “so we can maximise that and encourage that and have that increased.”

“The crew spends money when they get off the ships and the whole idea is to keep those passengers off the ship so that more and more of the crew can be allowed off the ship as well. If we are keeping those passengers happy in St. Kitts then the crew will be able to get off and spend money,” said Paige, who disclosed crews spend an average of US$66 in the destinations.

Paige said the FCCA Conference is the only time that the 100 cruise executives will be in any one place working together with the destination for a period of three or four days.

“They will be here to experience the destination which is very important. But it's also to work with all of St. Kitts (SK). If you have an idea of something that you want to sell to the cruise industry, if you have an idea for a tour, now is the time to start bringing that to fruition,” Paige told the media. “With more ships coming, with more passengers coming, there needs to be a broad range of things for those passengers and crew to do and remember the happy cruise passengers spend money, so it's up to us to make them happy and a lot of people on St. Kitts making money from those ships, from those passengers by having a broad range of things to do.”

She said there is also a role for senior citizens in tourism. “If they want to hone up on their stories about St. Kitts and having a half a dozen cruise passengers with locally made meals as they tell their stories…there is something for everybody,” said Paige.

She said St. Kitts was at the cutting edge and had implemented a programme to woo cruise passengers returning as land based customers. “If you are treating them good for that seven or eight hour stay, they are going to want to come back and stay in a hotel,” Paige said, who pointed out that cruise passengers always look for a stayover destination as another vacation experience.

“If we are all working together including the Goodwill Ambassadors – the taxi drivers – and we need to all work together to have the most enthusiastic approach to the cruise passengers, welcome them to our shores, having them do fantastic things when they are here and knowing that they are going to come back,” said Paige.