Nevis, West Indies. ?A Non-Tourist-Trap? Blog About Nevis.

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
July 13, 2010 (CUOPM)

British Airways London – St. Kitts route is the fastest growing Caribbean service for the British carrier with encouragingly strong forward bookings.

This was highlighted during recent discussions in London between St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Sen. the Hon. Richard Skerritt and British Airways Head of UK & Ireland Sales and Marketing, Richard Tams and Business Development Manager, Alison Nicholls, and their support team.

Celebrating the success of the twice-weekly British Airways Gatwick service to St. Kitts, Minister Skerritt, who was in the British capital attending a strategic review meeting at BA’s Waterside Head Office, said the early success of the St. Kitts route, including the midweek Tuesday service which was launched only three months ago, has exceeded the best expectations.

“This UK airlift success to date, and the optimism coming from all of the British Airways officials and the travel media who I met, is fantastic news for a small island nation like St. Kitts and Nevis in such a challenging economic environment. These results should provide the platform to encourage all of our stakeholders to nurture new and existing partnerships in the UK market, while undertaking new initiatives at home going forward. We look forward to maintaining this special partnership with British Airways long into the future,” said Sen. Skerritt.

BA’s Head of UK & Ireland sales, Richard Tams expressed optimism of the St. Kitts to London-Gatwick route.

“We are delighted at the continued success of the St. Kitts route, especially with the second service we introduced three months ago. St. Kitts is a very popular destination and forward bookings look very encouraging, which is testament to the attraction of the island.”

The new BA route has sparked growing interest in St. Kitts as a holiday destination from media professionals who met with Minister Skerritt in one on one interviews during the course of his visit, to find out what makes St. Kitts so special as an authentic Caribbean destination.

The Media were enthused with details of the island’s emerging high quality product, existing key attractions, its natural and unspoilt beauty, genuine hospitality and the overall holiday experience afforded to visitors to St. Kitts and Nevis.

Minister Skerritt also took the opportunity to hold discussions with BA and the media on the troubling subject of the UK Air Passenger Duty (APD), speaking about the growing concern at its likely negative effect on visitors planning to travel to St Kitts, and its anticipated harmful impact on the Caribbean tourism economy as a whole.

He told the UK media interviewers that, in his opinion, the fairest short term solution would be to rebrand the entire Caribbean into the same tax category as Bermuda and Florida, while working to restructure or remove the tax completely in the long term.

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3. British Airways To Service St. Kitts – Nevis Weekly
4. British Airways’ Service “Great for St. Kitts and Nevis”
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Passengers Arrive In St. Kitts On BA Flight
Photo By Erasmus Williams

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
March 30, 2010 (CUOPM)

Tourism stakeholders in St. Kitts and Nevis have been urged to ensure that the new mid-week direct service to St. Kitts’ Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport by British Airways continues to grow.

“It is the responsibility of all stakeholders along with the government to do all that we can to grow the demand for our destination, grow the demand for our products and services and subsequently ensure that people keep wanting to come on these flights,” said Minister of Tourism and International Transportation, Sen. the Hon. Richard “Ricky” Skerritt, shortly after welcoming the BA Captain, who glided the carrier’s inaugural mid-week service from London’s-Gatwick’s International Airport.

Minister Skerritt told reporters it’s not just about a lovely 777 aircraft landing at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport and passengers disembarking.

“It is about making sure that it is good business for the country,” said Minister Skerritt, who added: “Tourism, is about making people happy, making them relaxed and getting away from their daily stresses and I think that St. Kitts and Nevis is one of the Caribbean’s destinations that is perfectly suited to achieve that. We can all make that happen on a sustainable basis, if we get out there and promote and put packages together and deliver goods and services that people want and need and are looking for.”

He expressed his optimism that these can be achieved on a continuous growth curve and added that the second weekly flight scheduled so quickly after just over a year “is an indication that we are making progress.”

“It is really a very good day for St. Kitts and Nevis,” quipped the Minister of Tourism, who was accompanied by tourism officials including including Advisor, Mr. Cedric Liburd; St. Kitts Tourism Authority Chairman, Mr. Alphonso O’Garro, mother Board members and Hotel and Tourism Association CEO, Mr. Michael Head.

BA’s flight captain, Alistair McLaren said it was his first flight to St. Kitts. “The crew was very well aware that the flight is an inaugural mid-week schedule and the passengers were delighted,” he said just before accepting a gift from Minister Skerritt.

Related posts:

1. British Airways Service…Key To St. Kitts – Nevis Tourism
2. 112 Passengers On British Airways Flight To St. Kitts
3. British Airways Flights To St. Kitts – Nevis Shows Confidence
4. WINAIR To Cease Flights To St. Kitts – Nevis
5. Tourism Minister Applauds Stakeholders

British Airways Flight Taxis At St. Kitts Airport
Photo By Erasmus Williams

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
March 29, 2010 (CUOPM)

Tuesday’s inauguration of a second British Airways flight into St. Kitts’ Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport “is an important symbol of hope for our tourism arrivals at a challenging time for Caribbean tourism and at a financially awkward time for international airlift.”

So says St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Sen. the Hon. Richard “Ricky” Skerritt, who, along with other local officials will welcome the new weekly Tuesday flight when it touches down at 3:35 P.M.

Mr. Skerritt said Monday that the British Airways decision to operate a second flight to St. Kitts from the UK “not only symbolises BA’s confidence in the future of our destination, it also highlights the promising results our partnership with BA has been enjoying for the Saturday operation which, in the first year alone, brought close to 10,000 visitors to our island.”

The new mid-week Tuesday flight will immediately increase capacity to St. Kitts and Nevis while offering even greater flexibility and choice to the duration of visitor nights. 

BA, which began scheduled service to St. Kitts just over a year ago, will use a similar configuration to the existing Saturday flight with a three class, 280 seat Boeing 777 aircraft holding 40 Club World seats, 24 World Traveller Plus and 216 World Traveller seats.

CEO of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Rosecita Jeffers said that in “this Celebrate St. Kitts Year, the new BA flight shows the attractiveness of St. Kitts as a destination for the UK market and is therefore good news for existing and new tour operators as well as for our hoteliers.”

“We are already seeing positive signs of a rebound in visitor arrivals and several trade and consumer initiatives currently in planning by the UK office of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority will undoubtedly ensure its continued success,” said Jeffers.

Related posts:

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2. Launching Ceremony For British Airways Flight To St. Kitts
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4. British Airways Service…Key To St. Kitts – Nevis Tourism
5. PM To Speak At Ceremony For British Airways Flight