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BASSETERRE (19TH April, 2016): This week St. Kitts will welcome the arrival of two cruise ships on their first-time visits to the destination.

The Carnival Elation will make its inaugural call today, bringing a maximum capacity of 2,594 visitors to St. Kitts. On Friday the Carnival Fascination will arrive to St. Kitts for the very first time with a maximum capacity of 2,594 passengers.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Carlene Henry-Morton, will lead a delegation of tourism frontrunners to officially welcome the crew and passengers of the Carnival Elation to St. Kitts. The Permanent Secretary will also administer a plaque-exchange ceremony to commemorate the inaugural visit.

“It is always a pleasure to welcome a new ship in port and so I am looking forward even more to give our gratitude to the Captain, based on the rich history that we share with Carnival,” Mrs. Henry-Morton said.

Minister of Tourism Hon. Lindsay Grant has been one busy Minister since been appointed to the all important port folio just over a year ago. The St.Kitts cruise season for 2016 and into 2017 has been and is expected to continue booming with record numbers of new ships and visitors.

Minister Grant has been having meetings with stakeholders and cruise operators on a regular basis with a view of continuing this tremendous upward trend in Cruise Tourism and tourism generally in St.Kitts-Nevis over the last 14 months .

The Carnival Elation was previously based in New Orleans offering four and five-day cruises to Mexico but changed its itinerary earlier this year to home port from San Juan. On this trip the new eleven-day cruise starts in San Juan and takes in Barbados, Grenada, St Lucia, St. Kitts and St Thomas, before finishing in Jacksonville, Florida

The Carnival Cruise Line has a total of 12 ships visiting St. Kitts, bringing close to 300,000 visitors in this cruise season.

The 2015-16 cruise season will climax when the millionth passenger arrives in St. Kitts in August. This cruise season has been one of the most successful thus far, boasting a record 21 inaugural calls, with this week’s count included.