Above: Nevis (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Bookings to St Kitts and Nevis by United States and United Kingdom visitors have increased by double digits over the past year, according to Tourism Minister Richard Skerritt.

To date for the year, bookings are up 16 percent from the British market, with actual visitors up 14 percent, and US visits saw a similar 14 percent jump.

Skerritt said the British market accounts for 10 percent of visitor arrivals in the federation, with the US market at about 60 percent.

The other 20 percent is from within the Caribbean, he said.

The federation is continuing to position itself as a high-end tourism destination, in part because of British Airways’ two weekly flights to St Kitts, which are successful for the air carrier because of a surfeit of first- and business-class passengers, Skerritt said.