Tourism is considered one of the fastest-growing economic sectors regionally and globally. As such, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has committed to building a more vibrant and resilient tourism industry as it is a critical pathway for the Federation to build better going forward and to recover faster from the COVID-19 Pandemic.
This was according to the Governor-General’s Deputy Her Excellency Marcella A. Liburd, JP during her Throne Speech at the Opening of the New Session of the National Assembly of St. Kitts and Nevis since the August 5th General Elections. The parliamentary sitting was held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort Royal Ballroom on Tuesday, October 25, 2022.
“Our new Labour Government is proposing a better way for the expansion of our tourism sector which continues to be one of the critical pillars of development here in the Federation,” said Her Excellency Liburd. “Over the recent past, our tourism industry has shown a lacklustre performance with no major gains in brand recognition or development of the tourism product. At this time, we want to reassure our citizens that our Government is working assiduously to turn things around. We are determined to put our tourism sector back on track to contribute more to our national development…
Over the next five years, we will attract at least two new five-star hotels building on the foundation that has already been established with the Four Seasons Resort in Nevis and the Park Hyatt Resort in St. Kitts. Our Government has put in place a team that will work hard to ensure that an increasing number of visitors will choose St. Kitts and Nevis as a preferred destination. Our Government, therefore, intends to work with the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) to improve the marketing of our twin island Federation as the premier destination in the Caribbean,” Her Excellency Liburd added.
Her Excellency Liburd said that the government’s “proposal for the expansion of the tourism plant holds great potential to assist in multiple ways to diversify the economy and achieve its development objectives.”
“The addition of Medical Tourism, Sport Tourism, and entertainment related Tourism will flow from robust and ongoing efforts to establish the Federation as a global center for movie and music production and the creative arts in general. The construction of new hotels and other tourism-related infrastructure will provide employment opportunities and facilitate skills transfer in new construction techniques to our local tradesmen and tradeswomen,” said Her Excellency Liburd.
She noted that during the rebuilding phase numerous permanent jobs will be created.
“As we saw in the past, with the build-out of the Four Seasons Resort in Nevis and the Marriott and Park Hyatt Resort in St. Kitts, some of our citizens have been given opportunities to master their craft internationally. We will therefore pursue policies that encourage the promotion of our people working in the tourism industry,” said the Governor-General’s Deputy. “We want to see many more of our citizens being offered the opportunity to work regionally and internationally as top executives in their field of choice. Emphasis will also be placed on training our people to take up the opportunities for work in the industry as employees of the new enterprises that would come on stream or as entrepreneurs managing and growing their own businesses.”