By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Wednesday 15th September 2021) — Chief Executive Officer of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority Raquel Brown highlighted ongoing challenges in rebuilding the cruise industry following the successful call of Celebrity Equinox at Port Zante on Tuesday 14th September — the first large ship to dock there since March 2020. “I could truly understand one ship coming in and persons needing to have that economic generation, and it’s very hard. I know it’s very hard. We are doing our best to really work with our tour operators, our taxi operators and our tour companies to bring them on line and when we get the green light, we’re going to incorporate,” Brown said.
Brown explained why cruise could not have resumed earlier: “In June we were nowhere near above 70% of persons having their first shot and 66% having their second shot. We cannot resume cruise without vaccination.” She also noted that no Nevis tours were available during the Celebrity Equinox call because not all tours had completed Travel Approved certification. “For those persons going on the cruise ship as of right now until December 31st, persons 12 and over must be fully vaccinated. We have to ensure that we preserve cruise because we understand what it means to the economy. It’s not been easy but at this point in time we have to ensure that we protect both the Federation and all of our persons who work in the tourism industry and their families, so that we don’t create further strains on the health system,” she stated.