St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Tourism Honourable Marsha Henderson is using today, World Tourism Day to reiterate that the tourism sector is vitally important to the Federation and that every effort will be placed on resuscitating the sector in a post-COVID world.

“During the past two years, we endured restrictions and lockdowns put in place by governments around the world to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus. While we endured the economic hardship of the virus, this also provided us with opportunities and a newfound appreciation for the industry,” said Minister Henderson during her World Tourism Day, September 27.

“We celebrate this day to foster awareness about tourism’s social, cultural, political and economical value and the contribution the sector could make towards the sustainable development of our society,” she said. “This year, the observance of this day is even more meaningful as we celebrate the resilience of the sector and the perseverance of you the people.”

Minister Henderson stated that “This year’s theme for World Tourism Day, ‘Rethinking Tourism’ focuses on reimagining the sector’s growth both in terms of size and relevance, emphasizing the rebound of travel across the globe after the past two and half years as well as our aggressive plans to continue driving positive impacts in the year ahead.”

She said that the Federation is in a position to rethink its tourism product and refresh and repackage the existing offerings as the country looks towards the future and its role within the world with respect to tourism.

Tourism is a major driver of economic growth as it creates jobs and opportunities with the market revenue in travel and tourism projected to reach 716 billion US dollars this year.