Recent tourism statistics tell us that St. Kitts is still not at its best

Basseterre St. Kitts, Thursday 21st 2014 - St.  Kitts and Nevis received 100,997 tourist arrivals in 2013. A comparative analysis of 2013 stay-over arrivals relative to other countries in OECS and CARICOM provides a revealing insight into how our hotel sector is doing.  The Table reproduced below is available from www.onecaribbean.org.

Tourist stay-overs 2013

The data for all countries are not up to date.  For example Grenada, Antigua, Suriname and Haiti figures do not reflect arrivals for the full year.   Nonetheless even using their incomplete data, St Kitts and Nevis finds itself at the bottom of the ranking with a mere 100, 997 stay-over tourists.  It ranks 11th out of 15 countries in the CARICOM region.  Even the troubled state of Haiti welcomed more tourists than St. Kitts.  Haiti at 299 646 arrivals ranked 6th, receiving more than 3 times the tourists recorded by St. Kitts and Nevis.

From the data also, it may be considered that destinations with less developed plants (infrastructure, airlift, hotel facilities and attractions for e.g. St Vincent & Grenadines) are not far off from our figures and additionally, they may be performing more efficiently than we are.  This would imply that these competing destinations are making better use of what they have and are achieving value for money.

Another important point is that St. Kitts and Nevis in 2013 is struggling to receive 100,000 tourists inspite of millions of dollars spent to guarantee airline seats.  The ECCB’s record of stay-over arrivals shows that in 2008 in the height of the financial and economic crisis, St Kitts and Nevis received 127,705 stay-over visitors.  

Something is awry in our approach to tourism.  On February 23, 2011, Charles Wilkin, Chairman of the Competitiveness Council, recommended that government produced a strategic master plan for tourism development. Such a plan in our view can help us to move from adhocism to a structured approach to tourism development and return our country to at least the 140,000 stay-over tourists which we received back in 2005 and 2006.

There was a time when tourism boomed in St. Kitts and Nevis.  Jack Tar Hotel was filled. Sugar Bay Hotel was doing well. So too was Timothy Beach Hotel, Ocean Terrace Inn, Ottleys Plantation Inn, Rawlins Plantation and Golden Lemon Hotel. Today, Golden Lemon is closed.  Rawlins Plantation is closed.  Frigate Bay Beach is closed.  Bird Rock Beach, Sugar Bay, Jack Tar and Angelus Hotel have been forced to cater to the student market, competing with landlords in Bird Rock, Earle Morne, Mattingley etc. all because our hotel (stay over) arrivals are not growing sufficiently.  

Without discounting rates to attract students these hotels would not be able to make it. Today Sugar Bay Hotel has more than 50 percent of its rooms devoted to students and Jack Tar Hotel is estimated at 80 percent. Angelus Hotel is nearly 100 percent devoted to that market.  Imagine government had acquired the Angelus to facilitate a 5 star facility there.  That facility there has neither star nor tourist. 

Rather than celebrating mediocrity, the government needs to do a serious analysis of our tourism plant and in particular the hotel/stay-over sub-sector.  This is the sector that brings over 90 percent of all tourist earnings or revenues. Why is it underperforming relative to its history and the rest of the region?

Team Unity promises a strategic master plan to rescue our once vibrant stay-over market from adhocism and talk to the delivery of stay-over tourists well above 140,000 peaks achieved on average in 2005 and 2006. We promise to involve all stakeholders in the development of our strategic plan for tourism. In keeping with our commitment for public accountability, we promise to let the figures speak for themselves and be the best guide to our performance.

We will publish these figures at regular interval rather than on a selective basis. We promise to provide a pathway for locals to benefit hugely from tourism developments and for them to find places in management and ownership of our tourism facilities.  This we will do in keeping with our agenda for shared prosperity and above average economic growth for our beloved St Kitts and Nevis.

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