Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 24, 2016 (SKNIS): St. Kitts’ achievements over the past year have been remarkable and without the various tourism partners its success would have not been realized.
These were the words of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Racquel Brown, during the 2016 St. Kitts Tourism Experience Awards, on May 21 at Carambola Beach Club, held under the theme Celebrating Excellence Changing Lives.
Ms. Browne stated that St. Kitts continues to “cruise, literally, and defines itself as an emerging marque Caribbean Cruise port.” The CEO made mention of several of the achievements which shows that the cruise industry is poised for excellence.
“We will hit the 1 millionth cruise passenger mark this season and on August 3, we project the 1 millionth passenger will arrive to our shores on the Oasis of the Seas,” she said. “We had 21 inaugural cruise calls this season, which is not common for any cruise port in the Caribbean. Having the Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas in the same year is a bonus, but in August of this year we will have both the Allure and the Oasis of the Seas.”
Ms. Browne stated that celebrating the excellence of the St. Kitts tourism industry is vital as the country continues to separate itself from other Caribbean destinations.
“Our unique and authentic experiences such as Brimstone Hill, also known as the Gibraltar of the Caribbean, Caribelle Batik, which is the only remaining batik factory in the Caribbean, the Scenic Railway, the last remaining choo-choo train in the English Caribbean, our rain forest tours, hiking down into the crater of Mount Liamigua, are experiences that cannot be duplicated, replicated and could only happen in St. Kitts,” she said. “We are the quintessential Caribbean.”
The Tourism Authority CEO said that while St. Kitts continues to cruise, stay over tourism continues to grow and will contribute to fuelling economic growth.
“The branding of St. Kitts is tied to the country’s lifestyle,” she said. “Whether you like to participate in soft adventure, culture and heritage, golf, yachting, planning your honeymoon or romantic getaway or simply just having a leisure vacation, that is St. Kitts, a lifestyle choice.
Another achievement was the welcoming of United Airlines inaugural Saturday service from Newark, New Jersey, in the United States, on December 19, 2015. Ms. Brown said it marked “an enormous day in the Federation.”
“This is exceptional for the Federation as we both now have nonstop service from JFK and Newark,” said Ms. Brown. “It’s a big deal because many of our Caribbean competitors do not have direct service from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Newark. They have to go through Miami or they have one service carrier servicing them from their destination to those gateways. We are also poised for the expansion of this service for the upcoming 2016-2017 season.”
These milestones and more to come can be accredited to the nonstop support of the stakeholders, said Ms. Brown.
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