by Dominique Lescott
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The WINN news team have been investigating allegations by a local tour operator of unfair booking practices. The Minister of Tourism, Honorable Lindsay Grant, said, “The cruise line is in the business of making money. We as the government are in the business of regulating and making sure that our people get the best that they can get at any given time”.
Grant confirmed that the allegations were true; he said, “So what was happening, visitors were told, I understand, and I’m 90% sure that was so, that they could only use the shore ex and there were no independent tours etc.”
Grant was aware of the situation, “I don’t know if it was [a] miscommunication or deliberate, but yes we recognise that the information going to the passengers on the ships was not exactly what we had indicated to them was the case,” said Grant.
Grant confirmed that Tourism is in regular communication with the cruise lines to ensure passengers get the correct information. He said, “We have since then on more than one occasion, written to each and every single cruise line, to indicate to them that that is not the position and that they must communicate the information properly to their visitors.
Grant, who did not want to comment on any individual tour operators, said, “As to whether it is 100% satisfactory at the moment, I’m not sure, but we continue to engage the cruise lines every week on this matter.”
The Minister recognised the importance of tourism in St. Kitts and said, “For us, it is very important because it goes to the root and the heart and the soul of vendors, operators, taxi drivers making money. So we are very much on top of this”.
