A call for cruise tourism in St. Kitts to be taken to a new level and all stakeholders to work together to ensure the sustainable development of the industry.
Minister of State for Tourism, Sen. the Hon. Richard "Ricky" Skerritt said that the development of the cruise tourism sector has lead to the improvement in the facilities at Port Zante.
"We have also seen the continued expansion of the tourism product, the increase in the quality of products, the expansion of the number of tours, the expansion of the taxi fleet, and a number of things to market the country aboard and the move to take the image of the destination up the ladder, so that there is an increased demand for St. Kitts out there in the market," said Mr. Skerritt.
He said the aim of the Ministry of Tourism and the St. Kitts Tourism Authority is to move the quality of the ships up the ladder "so that we get the premium brands coming here with people that are prepared to spend more money."
"Ultimately its not just the number of visitors that come to our shores that counts. It is the expenditure, what their (visitors)
enjoyment of the destination is and how much money they leave here before they go (return),"
said Minister Skerritt, who said there is a demand for St. Kitts and Nevis as a destination and "getting the cruise ships here is one thing, but keeping them coming is another."
"Ultimately all of us have to continue to work together to make this a success," said Minister Skerritt, in an exclusive interview with "National Echo" a radio-television programme produced by the Communications Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister.
He said the Federation "needs to understand that there has been a lot of work that has gone on behind the scenes to move the St. Kitts Cruise Tourism Sector to the level where it is now, which is fairly significant."
"We're doing about a quarter of a million passengers annually into St. Kitts and Nevis from cruise lines and that has not happened by accident, that has happened over a period of time," said Minister Skerritt, who added that to move it to a next level, to exceed that three hundred thousand passengers mark, "will take a concerted coordinated effort by this government and our partners."
