Why St Kitts Is Targeting This Kind of Visitor

A targeted approach

By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

St Kitts is looking to attract “lifestyle visitors,” and it has a major draw: the Christophe Harbour development and its marina.

St Kitts and Nevis Tourism Minister Lindsay Grant said the “lifestyle visitor” was a key requisite for the tourism niche which the developments at Christophe Harbour can help to achieve.

Grant added that the ministry’s efforts over the last few months have gone into targeting this type of visitor, as well as into positioning St. Kitts and Nevis to become a golf destination.

“We’re going really for that lifestyle visitor who’s going to come and have the capacity to spend in St Kitts and Nevis,” Grant said.  “So [Christophe Harbour] is really in keeping with the tourism product which we are driving at the moment.”

The opening of the Park Hyatt at Christophe Harbour is also scheduled to coincide with the commencement of construction of a golf course, which, according to Executive Vice President William Anderson, “will be positioned as one of the best destination golf courses in the world given its setting on those spectacular cliffs.”

“We really believe, except for the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, this is the single largest project of its kind in the Caribbean at present,” Anderson said.  “We see it as a tremendous destination in and of itself.  When the resort is completed, virtually anything you would want in the hospitality sector and realm would be represented.”

More restaurants and retail businesses are expected to open in Christophe Harbour as it continues to develop.

Since its opening in February 2015, the Marina has served as a hub of activity in the area.

“The heart of the development is in fact the marina, which was completed last year and is now being positioned as really the premier yacht facility in the Eastern Caribbean and one of the best in the world,” Anderson said. “We have in recent weeks had as many as 10 super yachts in the Marina which is a great feather in the cap for the Federation. And moreover, the ancillary businesses on the island that have to support what’s happening be it a florist, be it fuel, et cetera.”