St Kitts Takes the Travel Spotlight With the ASTA Caribbean Showcase
The American Society of Travel Advisors has kicked off its first-ever Caribbean Showcase in St Kitts, bringing leading travel advisors, destinations, and brands to the island for the event
It began with a steel pan symphony just a few steps from the sand, green mountains in the background, and a dynamic energy of an island on the rise.
The 2026 edition of the American Society of Travel Advisors’ Caribbean Showcase kicked off in St Kitts, the first time the island has ever hosted the event.
The event at the St Kitts Marriott was the culmination of a major effort to deepen St Ktits’ engagement with the all-important travel trade, and helped put the island in the global travel spotlight.
“This is one of the last truly unspoiled destinations in the Caribbean,” St Kitts Tourism Minister Marsha Henderson said on stage, reminding assembled advisors that this was precisely the kind of destination today’s travelers are seeking out.
Today’s travel clients “deserve something extraordinary, something that they’ll remember for a long time, an experience that they will talk about for a long period after they return home,” she said.
The events’ main session, led by MC and ASTA President and CEO Zane Kerby, included a who’s who of top brands and destinations, including The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Royal Caribbean, Virgin Voyages and Sandals Resorts International.
It was followed on Monday by a Trade Show, bringing together agents and suppliers for a spirited round of conversation and engagement.
Kerby updated advisors on some of the ASTA’s biggest priorities, including commission recovery for agents and the ASTA’s Verified program.
“Seeing the unbelievably pristine natural beauty of this place is really inspiring,” Kerby told Caribbean Journal. “We brought over 100 travel advisors from the United States here to kick the tires, to learn the island, to learn all of its features and its different hotels and hospitality venues — and the activities that people can do when they came and visit St Kitts.”
St Kitts Tourism Authority CEO Kelly Fontenelle, who has spearheaded the destination’s push to court travel advisors and to host this event, led a panel covering some of the biggest issues in travel right now, from defining the new luxury to new trends in wellness.
Fontenelle wanted advisors to use the visit to build something that keeps working for them, to immerse themselves in the destination, to use the perfect mix of video, images and storytelling to show their clients what St Kitts actually feels like.
“It’s that feeling that sells.”
Hosting the conference is a significant move for St Kitts in the world of travel advisors — and a sign of where the island is going, and of the region’s broader strength.
“That blue azure water, it sells a lot of seats on planes and on cruise ships,” Kerby said. “The Caribean has gotten an outsized portion of American travelers from time immemorial — its proximity, its safety and security, its familiarity. There are all kinds of reason why the Caribbean remains a premier destination for American travelers.”
