By the Caribbean Journal staff

Buoyed by the debut of one of the Caribbean’s hottest hotels, the island of St Kitts is experiencing a tourism surge so far in 2018.

There were a total of 25,744 stayover visitors to the destination in January and February, a 9 percent increase compared to the same period in 2017, according to data from Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris.

That was in large part due to the opening of the highly-anticipated Park Hyatt St Kitts in November, a property named New Hotel of the Year by Caribbean Journal.

The numbers were also driven by an increase in service by carriers including American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines.

The destination should get another boost with the debut of four new hotel properties this year, including a Radisson-branded hotel, the KOI project, Helden’s and the Pavilion Hotel.