Basseterre (20th June 2018): The month of June has seen an unprecedented number of Travel Agents and Tour Operators from the U.K. pour into St. Kitts to experience the history, culture and tranquil beauty of the destination.
The St. Kitts Tourism Authority will host more than 20 tour operators and travel agents, to familiarize them with the twin-island destination’s diverse tourism product, its varied accommodation and visitor attractions.
Minister of Tourism The Hon. Lindsay F.P. Grant noted the increase in familiarization trips reflect the importance of the UK as a market for St. Kitts.
“It is important we continue to build on our existing relationships with the UK trade, secure new partnerships and increase business to St. Kitts,” Minister Grant said. “I therefore make a special call to our stakeholders to partner with us to ensure that the on-island experience of our guests is a memorable one, so that when they return to the UK they are extremely motivated to sell St. Kitts.”
Early in June the SKTA collaborated with the Caribbean Tourism Organization and British Airways to showcase the ease of island-hopping in the Caribbean. St. Kitts and Antigua were chosen as the key host destinations, with Nevis as an added bonus. This UK familiarization trip consisted of ten travel agents who spent 7 days between all three islands—two nights in St. Kitts, one night in Nevis and two nights in Antigua.
Recently the SKTA also hosted ten high-profile tour operators from Azure—an affluent tour operator company in the U.K.
Chief Executive Officer of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Racquel Brown, stated that it had been 15 years since Azure had traveled to St. Kitts and Nevis.
“Having Azure return to the destination was a significant milestone for us, and shows that our strategy to grow the UK market is working. We will certainly continue to build on old and new relationships with the UK Trade.”
Additionally, another travel agent group of about 11 travel agents will be arriving to the destination this weekend. The group of travel agents were attendees of the 2017 Destination St. Kitts & Nevis UK Roadshow.
