Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 03, 2015 (SKNIS): The Ministry of Tourism is presently seeking to strengthen the yachting sector with the aim of providing opportunities for nationals to make a livable wage.
Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Lindsay Grant, while giving the featured address at the first St. Kitts and Nevis Yachting Development Forum on November 3, 2015, at the Ocean Terrace Inn (OTI) said that the development of the yachting sector in St. Kitts and Nevis will be extremely beneficial to the citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis.
According to Minister Grant, St. Kitts and Nevis can boast of a number of strengths that will facilitate the building of the industry.
“We are a well-established tourism destination—our location of St. Kitts and Nevis makes it an easy stop and a natural extension of the itineraries of the yachters. We have strong private sector investment in the construction and provision of mariners, slips and berths as evidenced by the Christophe Harbour Marina. The Urban Development Cooperation operates a small marina with 32 berths for which there is high demand by the visiting yachters,” he said.
The tourism minister stated that because of these strengths St. Kitts and Nevis is poised to become a premier yachting destination.
The tourism minister explained that discussion with stakeholders will prove to be invaluable as it is only through combined creativity and innovation that the industry will be propelled into the lucrative sector that it has the potential to be.
A release from the St. Kitts Tourism Authority stated that “Statistics from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Review of Yachting in St. Kitts 2012, undertaken by the Department of Maritime Affairs show that the yachtsperson is a high-spend tourist and that the revenues generated by yachting exceed those of cruise tourism.”