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Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 01, 2019 (SKNIS): Officials in the tourism industrycontinue to place particular focus on enhancing the skills and abilities of tourism stakeholders in an effort to ensure that visitors can get the very best experience while vacationing in St. Kitts and Nevis.

This was according to the Honourable Lindsay Grant, Minister of Tourism, during his address to officially open Tourism Awareness Month, which runs from November 01 to 30.

“At the Ministry of Tourism and the St. Kitts Tourism Authority (SKTA), we have committed to providing a consistently outstanding visitor experience through the sustainable development of our human, natural and cultural resources, in order to maximize opportunity, prosperity and quality of life for present and future generations,” said Minister Grant.

Minister Grant noted that improving customer service forms part of enhancing visitor experience.

“We are continuing to conduct customer service training for all stakeholders who work on the front lines of the industry, including both traditional and non–traditional service providers, such as Aloe Rub Vendors, Destination Management Companies, Servers, Bartenders, Primate Petting and Craft Vendors and Hair Braiders.” the Tourism Minister said.

“This is our fifth year of annual training, with sessions held in June and July. Topics covered key themes such as Destination Awareness, Serving the Discerning Guest, Caring for your Primate, Understanding Tourism, Intermediate Customer Service, Time Management, and Conflict Identification & Management,” he added.

This strategic focus on customer service training for tourism stakeholders has translated into more revenue for their businesses.

According to the BREA 2017/2018 Report – which measures the economic impact of the cruise  tourism industry in 36 destinations throughout the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South America – total passenger spend in St. Kitts and Nevis (2014/2015) was US$75.30 million compared with US $133.02 million (2017/2018). This is a 77 percent increase from 2014/2015 to 2017/2018.