Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 06, 2022 (SKNIS): Chair of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Carnival Committee, Shannon Hawley shed some insights on how the carnival season is beneficial to the tourism sector during her appearance at the National Carnival Media Briefing at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort on October 10.
“Ultimately the goal is to ensure that beds are filled just like how every other carnival in the region is promoted. We want to ensure that we have carnival lovers from around the region and internationally coming in and the trickle-down effect is felt,” said Ms. Hawley. “Carnival is not a three-day music festival, it is an event where we are encouraging individuals to come in for our power week especially, which is the last week. You come for Jouvert, stay for Christmas and New Years and you are also participating in the first and last carnival of the year,” she added.
The Chair stated that the St. Kitts Tourism Authority (SKTA) is in the process of marketing not only to the US market but the regional markets.
“We have had Antigua, St. Maarten, Statia, Saber, Anguilla, and the US Virgin Islands, markets that have always supported the St. Kitts Music Festival as well as going further down south to Dominica, St. Lucia etc,” she said. “It all starts with us here, producing a product that we are proud of and we are able to market regionally and internationally,” said Ms. Hawley.She continued saying that the SKTA is important as it is able to market the carnival to cruise ships and passengers and is an important initiative moving forward.
She added that the intention of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Carnival Committee is to assess and understand how carnival impacts the overall society.
