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

Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
June 20, 2010 (CUOPM)

Several Eastern Caribbean leaders will place a new dimension in Caribbean integration when they formally sign a treaty establishing an economic union of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, the outgoing Chairman of the Authority of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is among the leaders in Castries, St. Lucia for the signing of the OECS Economic Union Treaty.

The ceremony begins at six o clock on Friday 18th June and will be carried live on ZIZ Radio and television.

“We have a date with history,” OECS Director General Dr. Len Ishmael told the opening ceremony of an exhibition entitled “No Borders, New Frontiers: Discovering the Potential Within,” referring to the historic signing of a revised OECS treaty on Friday

That is when leaders of six independent member states of the grouping will put their signatures to the revised Treaty of Basseterre establishing the OECS Economic Union.

The OECS Director General notes that current and emerging global and other challenges point to the need to reinforce the resilience of member states to ensure their survival.

According Dr. Ishmael, the global economic crisis pointed to the strength that comes from the institutional architecture of this region.

She says it is this and other reasons which point to the wisdom of moving forward within a framework of even deeper union.

However St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Stephenson King warned that the road to economic unity, though creating better opportunities for the people of the sub-region would not be easy.

Related posts:

1. Montserrat Will Not Sign OECS Economic Union Treaty
2. St. Kitts – Nevis To Host OECS Economic Union Treaty signing
3. OECS Economic Union Treaty Signing Well Represented
4. OECS Leaders To Discuss Economic Union
5. Nevis Premier To Attend OECS Treaty Signing

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:

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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

Keith Nichols – OECS Official

Charlestown, Nevis
April 15, 2010

Head of the OECS Secretariat’s Environmental and Sustainable Development Unit based in St. Lucia Mr. Keith Nichols, described as encouraging Nevis‘ advances in renewable energy initiatives. An area in which, he noted, the small island state continued to lead the entire Organisation of East Caribbean States (OECS) grouping.

His comment came in a recent interview with the Department of Information when he gave his impressions of the strides Nevis had made in the development of geothermal and wind energy.

“I think that is really, really good. There is a model I think that has been developed, the negotiations that have been entered into, the agreements that are in place to support the developments both for geothermal and wind, and we are seeing tangible evidence of development…It is something I think the rest of the region has to learn from.

“There is a tremendous amount of work I know we have to do in the rest of the region and to bring our initiatives up to speed. It is not enough to keep talking and talking about where we want to go, I think we need to start to get serious about implementing some of those initiatives,” he said.

The OECS Official said in light of the rapidly increasing price of oil the region would find itself envious of what Nevis had achieved so far with renewable energy and considerations in that critical area would once again be placed on the front burner.

He explained that his office which was planning two high level meetings in Nevis on October, one for technicians followed by another for Environment Ministers of the region, would have the opportunity to expose the decision makers of the strides Nevis had made with renewable energy development and encourage them to advance more aggressively, that work that had started in some of the countries.

“We really need to do it, we are losing time and it is costing us a whole lot more while we keep paying the extra high prices for oil in the region. I think there is a demonstration effect that Nevis has showed to all of us [that] it can be done.

“They are going ahead and the country is pursuing those arrangements very aggressively and will have something in place that we will all be jealous of in the next few months. So hopefully that will serve as a catalyst to moving ahead our various initiatives in the rest of the Region,” he said.

Notwithstanding, Mr. Nichols contended that the region lacked the financial resources to support local initiatives and the islands were forced to look beyond for funding in the area of renewable energy development.

He explained that there were energy meetings all over the region and the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat had installed an Energy Unit which had been pursuing renewable initiatives very aggressively through some funded programmes in the region.

“Right now the Orgainsation of American States is active in the region helping with policy development. The Caricom Secretariat through its Caribbean Renewable Energy Development Project is supported by the German Government through the GEC. They are aggressively looking for alternatives for renewable energy within the region and financing some of those options in the islands as well.

“The OECS Secretariat is also looking to put in place its own sustainable energy programme that will help add on or augment the benefits of the initiatives that are being pursued under the earlier mentioned projects,” he said.

According to Mr. Nichols, there was still a tremendous amount of work to be done. Among them were the will to eliminate the barriers which stood in the way of adopting renewable energy technology in the region.

“We need to look at legislation, we need to look at institutional frameworks, we need to look at policies, and if we can get past that stage then everything is relatively easy sailing but then we need to look at the financing opportunity, how we can engage the institutions in the region to support the development of the various opportunities whether its wind, solar, geothermal, whatever.

“I think we have enough renewable energy resources within the region to satisfy our energy needs into the future. If it’s done properly, [it] requires some planning, some advance thinking, some monies of course and with Minister Powell [responsible for Renewable Energy on Nevis] leading the charge, we can get there. I think Nevis has definitely shown its metal in this instance and demonstrated what could be done if we put our backs to it,” he said.

Related posts:

1. Nevis Continues To Develop Renewable Energy
2. Nevis Renewable Energy Projects Attract Attention
3. UWI Interested In Renewable Energy Projects On Nevis
4. Nevis Government Hosts Renewable Energy Workshop
5. UWI Sets Sights On Renewable Energy Projects For Student Study