St Kitts courting high-end tourists from Canada and UK

Royal St Kitts Golf Club at Frigate Bay, St Kitts. SKNIS Photo.

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (SKNIS) -- Officials at the St Kitts Tourism Authority are investing more time and energy to increase visitor arrivals from Canada and the United Kingdom, as part of the overall strategy to attract more high-end tourists.

Tourism minister, Lindsay Grant, said articles about St Kitts will be featured in two Canadian publications: “West of the City Magazine” and “Taste.” According to its official website, West of the City reaches 35,000 of the most affluent homes and has a select distribution based on proven research which targets “discriminating, well-travelled and passionate” individuals.

“The partnership will result in a feature article … on the emergence of St Kitts as a luxury destination in the September issue and a follow up five-page advertorial in December 2016,” Grant said.

The island’s growing number of quality golf courses is also being used to appeal to affluent individuals. The tourism minister said that emphasis for this initiative is being placed in Ontario, Canada, where he reports there are 2.3 million golfers that spend $11 million overseas annually. A 2015 partnership with the Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) resulted in the staging of the St Kitts 2-ball Shootout at the Royal St Kitts Golf Club last December.

“Starting this Spring, it will provide us with over 40 events integrations for the 2016 golf season,” Grant stated.

In a previous press release, GAO president Chris Osborne said his members “are very well travelled” and that his association aims to provide its members with “something new, something different, something special … and St Kitts is all of that.”

The efforts in golf tourism also extend to the United Kingdom with a strategic partnership with Barmy Army Golf. During the next three years, St Kitts and Nevis and Barmy Army will host exclusive annual golf events with the inaugural function scheduled to take place in November this year, Grant stated.

Additionally, several travel agents in the UK received specialized training about the tourism product in St Kitts and Nevis and were certified as destination specialists.