by Devonne Cornelius
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Premier of Nevis Mark Brantley who also serves as the island’s Tourism Minister is responding to questions by the media about his administration’s plan to get smaller cruise ships to return to Nevis.
Speaking at his press conference on Wednesday, Premier Brantley told journalists that the focus is to get cruise tourism going on St. Kitts before those efforts are expanded to Nevis.
He said “because much of the management of COVID-19, protocols etc, are set at the federal level, there was an understanding that because cruise is such a critical part of what St. Kitts does, that we would seek to focus on St. Kitts and cruise to try to get it restarted over there and then of course see how those protocols work and then expand them nationally.”
Premier Brantley said “Nevis has never been a major cruise destination” and that is not their model.“We used to get some smaller ships and we are hopeful that it is not too late for us to get some of those.”
He said he believes they are “in a position where those protocols will have to be rolled out nationally and so the island of Nevis would then be in a position to once again start getting the smaller ships that tend to come here.
Cruise tourism in St. Kitts recommenced with the arrival of the Celebrity Equinox on September 14, 2021, the first vessel to arrive at Port Zante since March 2020.
