Showcasing St. Kitts’ Expansion Plans

By Denise Mattia

Richard Skerritt, the St. Kitts’ minister of State in the Ministry for Tourism, Sports and Culture, appeared at the gate at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport during an early morning in November 2007, wearing a white polo shirt and casual slacks, despite the fact that representatives from St. Kitts and American Airlines wore tailored dresses and suits, shirts and ties. The event was the inaugural flight of direct, non-stop service from JFK to St. Kitts. He opened his address by acknowledging that his attire was purposeful — “casual and warm like the island and the Kittitian” (pronounced Kah-TISH-an).
Speaking about the tourist industry, Minister Skerritt announced that the figures for visitors coming to St. Kitts in 2007 were down due to the revised WHTI regulation, which requires U.S. citizens to travel with valid passports. “Meetings and incentives groups, many of which are made up of travelers without passports,” he explained, “found it easier to stay in the U.S. mainland, or fly to Puerto Rico or the USVIs. Yet despite these setbacks,” he continued, “many of our objectives to increase visitors from the US to St. Kitts are being met.”
This is being accomplished with an aggressive plan to double the ministry’s efforts to showcase the island’s resources through familiarization trips with meeting-planners and financial services companies. American Airline’s nonstop service for the tri-state area, and, starting February 16, Delta Airline’s nonstop service from Atlanta is expected to increase visitor arrivals and further attract investment opportunities to the island. “We are building a luxury market and competing on value,” Minister Skerrett said. “It’s not always easy to convince a buyer,” he added. “One has to visit to believe what is in St. Kitts.”
Who’s Not Looking for an Island Like This?
Jax Fax was present for Minister Skerrett’s remarks that evening at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort and Royal Beach Casino. The minister presented an overview of the island’s natural resources, boasting unspoiled ecosystems that span virgin coral reefs, rare oceanic rain forests, dormant volcanoes and unique flora, fauna and birds that “populate this ecological gem.” He pledged to preserve these resources and the island’s cultural heritage that combines Indian, African and European influences, adding that “Travelers are looking for islands like this,” he said.
Master Plans
Looking down from an 800-foot elevation on the southeast peninsula, we were shown the beginnings of what will become Christophe Harbour, a master-planned community with two five-star hotels managed by Auberge Resorts and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group respectively. Under the leadership of Kiawah Development Partners, the area, spanning 2,500 acres of property with six beaches, will feature a yacht club, a heliport, world-class restaurants, villas and a Tom Fazio championship golf course.
Plans also include dredging the Great Salt Pond and breaking through to the sea to create a mega-yacht harbor, which will accommodate vessels up to 300 feet in length. The project is designed to meet the growing demands of affluent second- and third-homeowners and affluent individuals seeking vacation homes with investment potential, which is expected to be finished by 2010. Sales and marketing efforts will be headed by IMI, a leading luxury real estate sales and marketing firm in North America. Visit www.christopheharbour.com
Meeting exacting standards while ensuring a luxury lifestyle, Newfound Property International, together with local partners, is creating Ocean’s Edge, a 40-acre complex of vacation and primary residential homes. Located along the hillside and around the beach at the neck of the peninsula at Frigate Bay, the design and construction of the development has been accepted into the Green Globe Benchmarking Program, the worldwide organization for sustainable travel and tourism. Some 36 apartments will be completed by June 2008, while the balance will be finished by December, 2009. Prices range from $315,000 to $1.8 million.
Visit www.oceansedgestkitts.com
From the Sky to the Sea
A helicopter ride provided a bird’s eye view of towns and historic sites of the lush, tropical island fringed with turquoise water lapping gently against lonely, golden beaches. Time permitted scuba diving at two sites along the southeast section of the island, where Jax Fax found fluted nudibranches, lobsters and a host of reef fish. Keeping up with a hawksbill turtle provided great entertainment, until it had had enough of the game and swiftly departed.
The wreck of the River Taw offers divers a wide variety of curious fish, including a three-foot barracuda, which patrols the remnants of the cargo ship. In the 80s, Kenneth Samuel, owner of Kenneth’s Dive Center (www.kennethsdivecenter.com), had the ship, a van, a bulldozer and concrete slabs towed to the spot near Frigate Bay, where they are fast becoming an artificial reef and home to schools of fish.
The Coral Reef Alliance, The Ocean Foundation and Kiawah Development Partners have assured the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis that the coastal construction planned for Christophe Harbour will not damage these reefs. Some Kittitians think otherwise. It would be a tragedy if expansion of the island came at a cost measured in more than dollars.
Future investment opportunities can be found at the Kittitian Hill at Whitegate, www.kittitianhill.com; the Marriott Vacation Club, www.marriottstkittsbeachclub.com; the Sundance Ridge Estates, www.sundanceridgestkitts.com
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