The roll-out of the ‘Venture Deeper’ brand campaign by authorities in St Kitts last year has helped to significantly boost its tourism product, causing heightened optimism for the industry in 2023.

Launched in the last quarter of 2022, the campaign was developed to highlight the twin island’s distinct natural environment by focusing on the territory’s natural beauty including its rainforest, beaches, and sunsets while appealing to intrepid travellers eager to explore, learn and immerse themselves fully in a new experience.

The initiative, backed by visual assets and written content, has encouraged an exploration of the islands promoted by its tourism authority’s website, social media and other advertising portals.

Minister of Tourism for St Kitts & Nevis Marsha Henderson, while noting that the territory was relatively new to tourism, having only started to channel its efforts and resources towards the sector in the last 20 years, said that since that time the island has made major contributions to national revenues while positively adding to gross domestic product.

Having witnessed increased visibility and returning visitor arrival numbers almost back to pre-pandemic levels last year, The St Kitts Tourism Authority (SKTA) said it is “confident that 2023 will bring ongoing growth in arrivals, as strategic programming, product development and positioning aligned with the new Venture Deeper brand campaign will continue to differentiate St Kitts and drive continued success.”

Moving from little over 200,000 visitors and $68 million in revenues in 1995, tourist arrivals for the island grew to over a million and up to $367 million in earnings pre-pandemic. Between 2020 and 2021 at the height of the novel coronavirus pandemic, visitor arrivals, however, fell to 301,400.

As of November 30, the destination also welcomed some 44 cruise calls, adding a total of 89,658 cruise passengers since the winter season began in October 2022.

“Building on our progress, St Kitts is committed to increasing airlift presence on-island, amplifying relations in source markets, and increasing destination visibility overall in 2023,” chief executive officer (CEO) of St Kitts Tourism Authority Ellison “Tommy” Thompson stated.

“The tourism industry in St Kitts continues to positively impact the economy. Our efforts to diversify our products and services will continue to create more job opportunities and drive a desire to visit the island all year long,” Henderson added.

The minister at the end of last year, also speaking in the national budget address, had said that approximately EC$18.1 million will this year be pumped into the two islands’ tourism industry so as to ensure that the sector remains globally competitive, even as it continues to undertake strategic marketing activities.