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.

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 To Service St. Kitts – Nevis Weekly
4. British Airways’ Service “Great for St. Kitts and Nevis”
5. St. Kitts – Nevis Celebrates British Airways Service

Work Begins On Improving Departure Area
Photo By Erasmus Williams

Basseterre – Nevis
April 28, 2010 (CUOPM)

Work has begun to ensure the speedier, more comfortable and convenient process of passengers departing the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport.

Newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA), Mr. Terrence Crossman said work began on Tuesday aimed at improving the immigration and security areas to create a better access point, especially on weekends when it becomes congested.”

“Our objective is to improve the departure and better screening facilities,” said the SCASPA CEO.

Mr. Crossman used the opportunity to apologise to users of the departure area for the inconvenienced that is being caused during the renovation period.

Last December Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, who at the time was Minister of Tourism visited and toured the airport following reports of “bottlenecks” from departing passengers.

The policies of the governing St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Administration under the leadership of Prime Minister has resulted in St. Kitts and Nevis becoming a well sought after tourism destination in the Caribbean and have attracted several international flights to the Federation.

American Airlines flies non-stop daily from Miami International Airport and twice a week – Wednesdays and Sundays – from New York’s JFK International. US Airways flies on Saturday’s from Philadelphia. Delta Airlines flies twice weekly – Wednesday’s and Saturdays from Atlanta and British Airways on Tuesdays and Saturdays from London-Gatwick.

Related posts:

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2. Passenger Processing At St. Kitts Airport To Be Faster
3. St. Kitts – Nevis Tests Airport Emergency Plan
4. St. Kitts’ Airport Records Passenger Increase In 2008
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Passengers Board LIAT Plane At St. Kitts Airport
Photo By Erasmus Williams

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
April 27, 2010 (CUOPM)

LIAT – the Caribbean airline has been invited to submit proposals to Eastern Caribbean Ministers of Tourism, through the OECS Secretariat, outlining various ways in which member states can assist in improving intra-regional travel.

So said the Federation’s Minister of Tourism, Sen. the Hon. Richard “Ricky” Skerritt, who was among OECS Tourism Ministers meeting in St. Lucia for the 9th Council meeting against the backdrop of an overall 12 per cent decline in stay-over arrivals in the sub-region last year, with at least five OECS countries registering double digit slides.

Minister Skerritt and his colleagues acknowledged the difficulties LIAT face in a small market without economies of scale in many instances, with high maintenance and equipment costs, but also emphasizing the need for LIAT to continue to find ways to minimize the cost of travel.

The Ministers are of the view that the adverse impact of the global economic crisis on sub-regional tourism will extend well into 2010.

The high cost of intra-regional travel has been a major concern among OECS countries, some of which say that the situation has impacted negatively on their tourism sector.

A delegation from the airline met for over two hours with OECS Tourism Ministers to make a presentation on the carrier’s operational and marketing strategies.

St. Kitts Tourism Minister Ricky Skerritt told reporters that the presentation by the airline, which was followed by what was described as a lively discussion, focused on LIAT becoming more tourism friendly, recognising the importance of intra-regional travel to the tourism dependent economies of the OECS.

“I think all concerned acknowledged the difficulties LIAT face in a small market without economies of scale in many instances, with high maintenance and equipment costs, but also emphasizing the need for LIAT to continue to find ways to minimize the cost of travel,” Skerritt said.

“We have invited the airline to submit proposals to us through the OECS Secretariat outlining various ways in which member states can assist in improving intra-regional travel,” he added.

The regional carrier has had a monopoly of intra-regional travel since it purchased the assets of its former competitor, Caribbean Star, in October 2007.

But the airline has been criticized especially by St. Lucia and Dominica for having a fare structure that discourages intra-regional travel.

In the case of St. Lucia, the island is the airline’s third largest tourist market.

Tourism Minister Hon. Allen Chastanet, a leading critic of LIAT, was absent from the OECS Council of Tourism Ministers meeting being grounded in the UK as a result of the volcano related travel crisis.

The meeting also proposed that the regional airline review its baggage policy, particularly issues dealing with baggage allowances as it relates to specific groups travelling for sports and entertainment.

“We requested that wherever possible the airline facilitate at little or no cost the second baggage piece for those specific groups or individuals,” Skerritt said,

In the sub-region, an 11.9 percent fall in the number of stay-over arrivals was recorded last year.  Declines in the number of stay-over arrivals were recorded in all member countries, of which five recorded double-digit contractions.

“All indications are that the adverse impacts of the global crisis on tourism performance in the OECS are likely to extend well into 2010, given the lag in the response of employment and incomes to the recovery of economic activity, as the major tourism source markets in the USA and Europe climb out of economic recession,” OECS Director General Her Excellency Dr. Len Ishmael said.

She added that in the case of the United Kingdom and, to some extent, Europe, the demand for travel to the Caribbean, including the OECS, will be dampened by the imposition of an increase in the UK’s Air Passenger Duty on airline tickets.

“The likely continued slow recovery of tourism means that some of the policy measure that OECS Member States found it necessary to adopt in the immediate aftermath of the onset of the global crisis, may have to be sustained into 2010,” she said.

“These might include expanded but carefully targeted marketing, and negotiation of new airlift capacity.”

The OECS Director General said that a continued programme of support to small and medium sized hotels and other core tourism enterprises might also be warranted, linked to adherence to relevant operating standards and the achievement of appropriate performance measures.

Related posts:

1. St. Kitts and Nevis To Attend OECS Tourism Meeting
2. Nevis Tourism Advisor To Attend OECS Tourism Meeting
3. OECS Looks At Funding Tourism Marketing Campaign
4. Nevis Premier Commends Regional Airline LIAT
5. Regional Security Council Of Ministers’ Meeting