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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, August 06, 2020 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – The St. Kitts and Nevis Travel Approved Seal that is being issued to tourism stakeholders upon completion of their mandatory COVID-19 sensitization sessions facilitated by the Ministry of Tourism is a unique feature that will separate the Federation’s tourism product from those of its competitors.

That’saccording to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Ms. Racquel Brown. Ms. Brown’s remarks came while providing an update to Government ministers and representatives of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce during a meeting on Wednesday (August 05).

Theseal will identify entities and operators within the tourism industry who have undergone the required training to meet the minimum health and safety COVID-19 protocols.

CEOBrown stated that an issuance of the St. Kitts and Nevis Travel Approved Seal is the most critical component of the COVID-19 sensitization sessions, as stakeholders within the tourism sector who did not receive this approved seal will not be permitted to operate in the new environment. 

“It is that seal which says you have gone through the training, you’ve gone through the protocols and you have met the criteria. What the Travel Approved Seal does is that it says to a tour operator or it says to a consumer when they go on a website and they see this seal they will see the entities that are recommended for them to go and visit and to travel. They can go and see what are the criteria they are supposed to meet in terms of the protocols. That’s going to be very important for us in terms of separating ourselves from the rest of the pack. We are ensuring at this point that we’ve kept our citizens and our residents safe and so we can say to our visitors, when you come here, we are equally taking care of you,” Ms. Brown explained.

Ms. Brown stated that the mandatory training sessions commenced on July 22 with restaurants and bars and tour operators who operate coasters buses. 

“Those two sectors of the tourism industry were chosen specifically because they had already gotten the approvals from the NEOC [National Emergency Operations Center]. We are moving now to hotels that want to open up their restaurants, for example, Park Hyatt as they are looking to opening up Fisherman’s Village, so we started training with them [on Wednesday],” Ms. Brown stated. 

TheCEO of the Tourism Authority noted that the training being done on St. Kitts is being carried out in conjunction with the Nevis Tourism Authority “so whatever it is we are doing here, it is the same protocols that are in Nevis for tourism.”

TheCOVID-19 sensitization sessions are expected to continue into the month of September and will cater to all stakeholders of the tourism sector. These include taxi operators, hotels, vendors, beach bars, retail stores, water and land based tour operators and watersports providers.