Budget 2023…Tourism rebounding after a two-year pummelling

TOURISM TOOK A HAMMERING in St Kitts and Nevis in 2020 and 2021 from the outbreak of the deadly, global COVID-19 pandemic. It dipped by 63.1 percent in 2020, the worse of the two years, and slipped by only 17.6 percent last year.

There should be signs of an uptick when the government present figures for this year, Finance Minister, Dr Terrance Drew said while presenting his government’s fiscal package for 2023

“It is, however, reassuring to note the vastly improved prospects for the rebound of this vitally important sector since the Labour Administration took office,” a confident Dr Drew said in his first-ever budget speech.

“Businesses operating in the Tourism Sector can attest to the positive impact of the full removal of the restrictive COVID-19 protocols in August of this year. Further, the increased engagement by the leadership of the Ministry of Tourism and the St. Kitts Tourism Authority with key local and international stakeholders, have contributed immensely to a strong rebound,” he explained.

 He reminded that touristic activities remain a catalyst for growth in several other sectors in the Basseterre and Charlestown economies. Thus, the rebound currently experienced has potential to multiply throughout other sectors such as wholesale and retail, and transport, storage and communications.

“In keeping with the growth in the tourism sector, consumer demand rose as hotels and restaurants resumed full operations resulting in the growth in the Wholesale and Retail Sectors. In the Transport, Storage and Communications Sectors, the increase can be attributed to the gradual return of air travel to the Federation”.

He provided more details: “Air travel rebounded by some 288.6 percent which is an indication that the Tourism Sector is well on its way to recovery. Cruise has also played a pivotal role within the overall Sector, increasing by 18.4 percent in 2022 mainly driven by the increased cruise ship and visitor arrivals in the early part of the current cruise season. The Ministry of Tourism is predicting that our destination will experience an influx of over 900,000 cruise passengers for the 2022/2023 cruise season”.

His five-month-old government is backing principal decision-makers in touristry, Dr Drew reiterated.

“It was clear that if we were to recover lost ground in the marketplace, there was a need to refresh our product and service offerings. Hence, the St. Kitts Tourism Authority embarked on a campaign that would not only create demand, but one that truly highlights the unique qualities of our destination. After months of hard work and creative collaboration both locally and internationally, at the end of September this year, we debuted “Venture Deeper” as our new brand campaign.”

“The campaign builds on our island’s distinctive characteristics while introducing elements of introspective self-discovery that reflect the purpose-driven goals of today’s travellers. Venture Deeper is designed to evoke, within the traveller, a desire to ‘peel back’ our layers and discover the true essence of the destination. We believe that, in doing so, more of our stakeholders can have interactions with our visitors leading to greater economic impact,” PM Drew explained.

“Our focus must now shift from a tunnel vision of solely looking at arrival numbers to also looking at how we can increase our visitors’ spending. Our objective must be to offer competitive products and services and to do so in a manner that maintains the highest standards, and puts the greatest amount of money in the pockets of our people. We have put our people back to work and are focusing attention on the areas that will expand opportunities for sustained employment in the years to come,” he continued.

Their new initiatives are bearing fruit too

“St. Kitts won the title of Caribbean’s Leading Dive Destination 2022 at the 29th World Travel Awards, a major milestone and honour. Being crowned best of the best in Caribbean dive destinations is not only a testament to our beautiful and diverse underwater landscapes, but also to our exceptional dive operators and 15 partners that make each journey memorable for visitors. This recognition solidifies our place as a competitive choice for divers of all levels,’ he emphasised.

Other accolades also followed with the Caribbean Journal listing Basseterre as the 2023 Caribbean Destination of the Year during its Caribbean Travel Awards announcement.

“St. Kitts has been recognised for our heavy concentration on providing rich and authentic travel experiences and our diligent focus on sustainability, community, and the natural environment. This opulent recognition is also a direct result of our recently launched brand campaign, ‘Venture Deeper’ which has resonated within its source markets and the Caribbean diaspora,” he boasted.

St. Kitts plans continuing to trailblaze and bolster its presence among other leading Caribbean destinations, as indicated by this recent award.

“As we look ahead, I want to emphasize the importance of investing in our people and our infrastructure. The most urgent need is an improvement in our airlift, specifically, more routes and cheaper fares. We must continue to focus on improving our airlift if we are to be as competitive as other islands in the region. To achieve this, there are critical actions that we must take. The discussion must begin on the ground in St. Kitts,” he noted.

“We will focus efforts on upgrading the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport to ensure that the arrival experience is of the highest standard and features innovative functions throughout (the facility). Regarding resources, I am pleased to report that the 2023 Estimates proposes to support the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation and International Transport with an amount of $27.0M for recurrent expenditure

The country will continue diversifying its tourism products to further enhance visitors’ experience and keep luring them back to the twin-island CARICON state.

“In support of the product development and airlift efforts, a capital budget totalling $17.6M is proposed of which $8.0M has been allocated to enable us to attract new airlift into the Federation,” Finance Minister, Dr Drew said during his budget presentation.