St. Kitts Put Travel Advisors at the Center of Its Strategy at the ASTA Showcase
The five-day ASTA Caribbean Showcase brought advisors, tourism officials and suppliers to St. Kitts and Nevis for trade meetings, hotel visits and firsthand destination training.
Travel advisors spent five days in St. Kitts and Nevis getting a closer look at how to sell the destination, from its major resorts to its smaller hotels, while meeting directly with tourism officials and Caribbean suppliers.
The St. Kitts Tourism Authority, in partnership with the American Society of Travel Advisors, hosted the 2026 ASTA Caribbean Showcase from Aug. 22-26, bringing advisors, tourism leaders and industry partners from the United States and across the region to St. Kitts.
The event was based at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort, Royal Beach Casino & Spa in Frigate Bay, with a program that included marketplace appointments, destination presentations, a trade exhibition and hotel site inspections on both St. Kitts and Nevis.
From an advisor perspective, the larger goal was straightforward: give sellers enough firsthand destination knowledge to better match clients with the two islands.
“ASTA’s Caribbean Showcase gives travel advisors the firsthand knowledge and relationships they need to sell the region with greater confidence and authenticity,” Zane Kerby, president and CEO of ASTA, said during the event.
Getting Advisors Into the Hotels
The hotel component was one of the most useful parts of the week for advisors.
Site visits on St. Kitts included Park Hyatt St. Kitts, KOI Resort Saint Kitts and Royal St. Kitts Hotel, giving attendees a look at three different products they can position for different types of clients.
Advisors also traveled to Nevis, where the itinerary included Mount Nevis Hotel, The Hermitage Inn and Four Seasons Resort Nevis.
The contrast between the two islands remains an important selling tool.
St. Kitts offers the larger resort inventory, nightlife, cruise activity and a broader range of traditional resort experiences. Nevis is generally a better conversation for clients seeking a smaller-island stay, intimate hotels and a quieter trip.
Being able to experience both during one trade event gave advisors a more practical understanding of how they can package the destination according to the client rather than treating St. Kitts and Nevis as interchangeable products.
The Trade Conversation
The Showcase also brought tourism boards and suppliers from around the Caribbean into the same room.
The Aug. 24 trade exhibition included representatives from St. Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Curaçao, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas and the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with companies including Royal Caribbean, Virgin Voyages and ALG Vacations.
The St. Kitts Tourism Authority used the event to meet advisors directly and promote its travel trade resources, including the St. Kitts Destination Specialist Programme and its SKY Program.
Those programs are increasingly important as Caribbean destinations compete for advisor attention. Familiarity with the hotels is only one part of the sale; advisors also need usable destination information, supplier contacts and a clear understanding of which clients are likely to be the strongest fit.
“Programs like SKY have deepened our engagement with travel advisors and created greater opportunities to convert those relationships into destination bookings,” Kelly Fontenelle, chief executive officer of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, said.
What St. Kitts Wants Advisors to Sell
Destination positioning was a recurring theme throughout the week.
During the General Session, Marsha T. Henderson, St. Kitts’ Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, International Transport, Employment and Labour, and Urban Development, described St. Kitts to advisors as “one of the last truly unspoiled destinations in the Caribbean.”
The event also included the panel discussion “Selling the Unspoilt Caribbean,” focused on how advisors and industry partners can present Caribbean destinations and local experiences while supporting responsible tourism.
In practical terms, St. Kitts gives advisors several different sales conversations.
Luxury clients can be directed toward properties such as Park Hyatt, while clients seeking a more traditional full-service resort can consider the St. Kitts Marriott. Nevis broadens the proposition further, particularly for couples, repeat Caribbean travelers and clients who want a smaller hotel or a more secluded island experience.
The two-island format can also be useful for longer trips. Advisors can build an itinerary around time in St. Kitts followed by a Nevis stay, giving clients two distinct experiences without requiring a second Caribbean vacation.
A Regional Event, Not Just a St. Kitts Event
Although St. Kitts hosted the Showcase, the event had a wider Caribbean focus.
The General Session brought tourism officials from several destinations to Frigate Bay, including representatives from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
Industry presentations also included representatives from ALG, Discover Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, Royal Caribbeanand Virgin Voyages, along with Gary Sadler, executive vice president for sales and industry relations at Unique Vacations.
That regional participation made the Showcase particularly relevant to advisors who sell the Caribbean broadly rather than concentrating on a single island.
Advisors were able to compare destination products, meet supplier representatives and gather information that could be used across a wider Caribbean portfolio.
Why Firsthand Experience Still Counts
Site inspections and destination familiarization remain particularly important in Caribbean sales because clients often ask questions that are difficult to answer from a brochure or website alone.
How does the resort feel relative to another property? Which hotel works better for an anniversary trip? Is Nevis too quiet for a particular couple? Which St. Kitts hotel is a better choice for a family? Is a split stay worth recommending?
Those are precisely the types of questions that become easier after an advisor has actually toured the properties and experienced the destination.
Danielle Weekes, the St. Kitts Tourism Authority’s business development manager for North America, said the event also gave the tourism authority an opportunity to hear directly from advisors about what their clients are looking for.
“It was exciting to welcome so many travel advisors to the destination this week and to work alongside them to better understand their clients’ needs,” Weekes said.
The Showcase concluded with a farewell reception at Carambola Beach Club, with cuisine and cultural performances from St. Kitts and Nevis.
The larger takeaway for advisors was less about a single event than the amount of product they were able to see in five days.
St. Kitts and Nevis gave attendees hotel inspections, direct conversations with tourism officials and suppliers, and a better understanding of how the sister islands differ.
When the next client asks which one is right for them, the advisors who attended the Showcase now have considerably more than a brochure to work with.
