Questions & Answers. Tourism Press Conference. Hon. Marsha Henderson | Ministry Of Tourism St. Kitts

good morning to all Glenn Bart SK newsline um Minister you mentioned the matter of the airport situation first off is government paying British Airways for the additional fuel burn that's required because of the situation with the park in apron and in relation to that is has there been any tendering made so far with regards to the repair to the apron and how soon can we expect that project to begin sorry Mr bats if I could just have your second question in relation to the tendering yes um has an intern been done as yet on that project what is its cost and how soon can we see construction or repairs of the parking apron and immigration to that also is some time ago you mentioned that there are some considerations being made for the new terminal how far has a gone is it going to be a reality or is it still being in the concept stage okay I want to touch on the accommodation issue that you mentioned as well um you did say that you're looking at new investment but currently there are a couple of major projects that are lying dormant particularly the Chinese projects one in figure Bay one somewhere things in the camps area or West Palm area um what has government done so far to facilitate do we start and completion of these two major projects that will add significantly to your accommodation problem and pronoun one more question during the election campaign of 2022 the labor party made a promise to tax The Operators to provide a an assistant package in relation to covid-19 issues um I remember also there was a meeting here with taxi drivers right here in this hotel um in which there was it was said that cabinet was considering that package what has happened to that and what is cabinet's decision on that issue thank you okay thank you Mr bad for your questions and perhaps we can start where you ended in relation to the grants for taxi operators a few months back I think it was late last year if I'm not mistaken the cabinet approved what we call the code covet relief for taxi operators and small businesses Grant out of the Development Bank where funds were put into development bank and The Operators taxi operators and entrepreneurs were able to go to the bank and apply once you were qualified and you would have been issued a grant of 25 000 we twenty five thousand dollars per applicant I am aware that some persons have even gotten more than a little more than 25 000 if the circumstances are required or the circumstances dictated so that program that was promised I know some of the the taxi operators have applied and benefited from it and so I'm pleased to say that we we did deliver on the promise uh it is limited I know that the application process started and was supposed to have ended up up until I think February of this year so applicants would have gone in and applied gone through the process the screening once they qualified they would have benefited from the grant as it relates Mr Bat to the projects as you said lion dormant and what efforts would have been taken by the government as it relates to accommodations new accommodations and existing projects line dormant most of the projects some of them were uh if I can say we're related to the CBI program and with the changes in the regulations we the person developers were required to resubmit their projects for consideration by the board when we met as the cabinet either I think two weeks ago we were informed that if not 95 if not all nine to five percent so 95 percent of the persons would have developers would have reapplied and would have been approved and so we're pleased to say that those projects that were lying dormant they're going to be revived their new person new developers who have approached uh approached us as well and I am aware even though that we're still in discussions and I can't say much that their new projects as it relates at least two of them as it relates to accommodation that takes us into the question of the second terminal and whether it's still in concept stage but before we can get a second terminal we need to build our airlift capacity we can put the chicken before the egg it makes no sense to and so we we are the the concept is being discussed and considered simultaneously with our airlift strategy where we are working on bringing our more airlift to the destination if you're paying attention you would see that the airport is busy mostly on Saturdays and to a certain extent on Wednesdays and that is because we of course are still experiencing challenges as it relates to airlifts within the destination so the terminal is being considered considered of course with our alif strategy and we're working not only to have the second terminal or built but we're working on improving airlifts and so the I think your other question was in relation to the existing terminal and whether we are able to accommodate was that a question Mr Bad apprecially right Okay so okay so no tendering has been done as yet as it relates to the apron but what we are doing is and and maybe the CEO of Casper can take this this question all right good morning um what we are doing is working on what we term some short-term fixes in the meantime as we still are in discussions with the Developers so no tendering has been done as as the minister said but we are working on short-term fixes currently for the new season the new upcoming season and the short-term fixes would be uh doing some repairs in terms of sealing the apron so that we can accommodate the aircrafts while they come and we are told by the experts that that should work for a period of two to three years CEO yes two to three and it may extend up to four years while we consider our options for the second terminal of course building airlift capacity and the need for the second terminal so yes we appreciate that we've outgrown the footprints of the main and existing terminal but we still are considering whether at this point in time we should put the chicken before the egg so we need to improve airlift are the question as it relates to British Airways and whether we are paying them for additional fuel I'll allow the CEO from the skta to take that question okay good morning everybody in terms of paying additional to British Airways a fuel no that's not currently happening but we do have in place and marketing agreement with British Airways which has been stable for the past few years [Music] oh sorry good morning everyone my name is brendonio and I'm a travel advisor I'm based in Charlotte North Carolina I have loved saying kids for a very long time it's not really a question I just ask that you consider the travel advisory network we're here to help and we can help I know you have a marketing plan I know all of that but I love this place and I so want to see it succeed so counsel with us I work with another Island and they have bounded exponentially just by listening just a little bit right because we do have the ear for consumers our consumers don't care that you're not all inclusive they care that you're beautiful they care that your people are sensitive they care that you have luxury properties right that's what they care about so lean on us let us help you because it's a beautiful destination people are tired of Mexico they're tired of Jamaica they're tired of St Lucia so let us make you the new best thing okay then definitely uh Brenda thank you very much and we will definitely be reaching out until we have reached out already Marvin Thompson said I said I have one question and I know it's Casper related which is Saint Christopher ENC board authority but regarding the training um at the the nautical stations in Miami and in Trinidad that you mentioned and the training that is anticipated for other pilots and for lack of a better terms Casper workers I know that there is a push to partner with the NTA and stuff like that so is that bridge or that hand being extended to Nevis so that all nautical persons and persons in that field can be on the same level Casper is run by a board of directors here in Saint Kitts NASPA is run by its own board while we partner on certain initiatives I can't say definitively what their plans are and what their objectives are but uh just to to answer briefly that NASPA has its own management whereas Casper reports to the minister of Tourism and kids the NASPA reports to another minister in Avis Mark Schneider from Sunset reef and Minister thank you very much for the great announcement on the music festival my question would be is there a marketing plan um currently being developed to to boost the marketing effort for the Music Festival The Showdown says yes um we have a plan that's going to kick in now that we have the full complement of acts so that's going to kick it in the Caribbean and also in the North America beginning last year after the last Music Festival we prepared a full year of pres promotion in the UK Market with Soca news and that is has been ongoing and so the short answer is yes and now that we have the full act it's going to be uh all guns blazing I don't know if that's a good term but good morning uh Mr Minister we Madam Minister sorry I and we welcome this this meeting and there's always the first and there is hope in what you mentioned and um I'm happy that it takes time and that you're working strategically on the Improvement of the industry airport support and otherwise we the taxi drivers would have met here before and was seeking assistance and assistance of a grant rather than alone Development Bank would have called us or mentioned that Monies are available but it would be in the form of a loan it's a low interest paying loan yes well a low interest paying loan well yes low interest paying loan but we got it differently in that it was a grant I mean alone and a grant is two different I'm sure everybody would understand that and so we just really want to know that if individuals actually received a grant and I know if they did receive a grant probably by now with that amount would have been finished if you have ten dollars and and um you have a period open at some point it will be closed but we are getting information from the bank that it is alone of low interest rather than a grant Madam Minister it will be difficult after we would have gone through kovid and some reposition would have made yes what's the question though is it is it if it's a if it's a loan or a grant right yes and when we met with the taxi presidents you all were made aware that it was a low interest paying loan it was a loan but right but you mentioned in your in your you know remarks that that Dr jeva would have gotten Grant a grant or grants what what I meant was the loan uh that was funded through Development Bank by the governments so monies were placed by governments into the Development Bank for the coveted relief for taxi operators and small business easily accessible not the rigid procedure with normal commercial Banks and I'm sure you appreciate that there are other stakeholders in the industry I appreciate that maybe 25 000 may have been spent in that I do appreciate that kovid was particularly harsh on the tourism industry and how fragile the industry is but we do have other stakeholders as well that we had to consider are providing relief for we have the hoteliers we have all the other persons who would have approached us and asked for Relief as well so yes I I understand that and and I appreciate um we extend to as far as it went but I am still saying or asking about a lone rather a grant sorry rather than alone rather than alone right so if funds were put there from the government for call it a soft loan very low interest I mean if everybody can get that interest rate you would have been so nice but across the board and I know that this is extended to hoteliers and and other other um entrepreneurs now this loan was just for taxi operators and small business owners and you're aware as well as the taxi president that we did not take any we didn't approve any additional licenses for this season so that we can accommodate those persons who would have gone through the pandemic and and not made any monies we have over 500 applications within the ministry waiting to be processed for persons who want to get in into the taxi particularly particularly for taxi operators so we we came up with Solutions we provided the the accessible low interest loan we didn't take additional applicants for taxi licenses uh everybody they come daily asking to to be able to function and work and play their trade as taxi operators but we took the decision as a policy that this season we would not have any additional taxi operators so we did what we can we we we tried and I'm sure a lot of persons would have benefited certainly and I I commend you and and and and um on your team highly however do you have another question just no it was just because I heard um Grant rather than a loan I thought that was okay thank you all right um minister yes Mr bats the matter of the the airport um the apron situation now we understand that there is a alternative Arrangements being pursued with regards to essentially resurfacing it's an alternative it's interim interim interim but even so um that requires tendering right and when I asked the question initially I was referring to tendering for the original project that was being pursued so what is the situation with the 10 win and still by known you should have an idea as to what's going to cost right okay so we'd like to get information on that okay so the the Border met and considered that an interim solution should be considered uh we're not taking off the additional terminal at all it's still being considered but in the interim so that we can accommodate our partners the the suggestion was to take bids on the ceiling of the apron and so that process has not yet been started in terms of a cost I we I know we're in the process we've I don't have the CEO has an idea but we don't have any business yet all right um it's not something I'm willing to release or diverge right at this point but we are in discussions with different developers so soon we will send out the tendering process would start so I should have a ball pack figure as to how much it's going to cost yes we do but as the CEO said that she doesn't think that right now is the time to divulge that information it's not that we don't have it but we don't think that right now is the appropriate time on the matter of Music Festival um in the past there have been many many cases where local entertainers who performed on the show and service providers to the music festival who are local right have had difficulty getting payments sometimes for durations of months yes has the government and the music festival committee put in the adequate resources to compensate local artists and local sales providers for their work right absolutely Mr bats in fact the what we are getting a lot of licks for in terms of being out of the gate late is as a result of all of this happening we have not been and this is not to be controversial at all but to date we have not received the exit reports from the last Festival we still have Owen and I've said it so it's not a secret in excess of seven hundred thousand dollars owed from the last Festival so the ministry thought it prudent that the management of the festival should be brought back within the ministry and so that we can be and mindful of the government's fiscal objectives in being fiscally prudent making sure that persons are paid the decision was taken for the music festival to be managed from within the ministry so we announced last year the new chairman who is our executive director in the ministry Mr Alice Williams he's no stranger to the festival we are confident that's even coming out of the gate late that we are going to execute a successful Festival so to answer your question yes we've taken the management back within the ministry we've looked at our budgets uh we would have gone to uh to the Ministry of Finance last year we've approached the cabinet since in terms of funding just to make sure that we are budgeting accurately and to make sure that the I think we would have a better appreciation within the ministry of the funds allocated to us and how they should be spent uh good morning Ken Boyd here from the Saint Kitts Marriott I first wanted to say congratulations on your accomplishments since uh you're being in office and continued success uh I guess this might be a question for Tommy I know there's been lots of dialogue about JetBlue and I'm wondering if there's any progress on that if that's something that we're going to see in this year or potentially next thank you unfortunately I cannot comment on this matter at this time but you will be brought up to date when appropriate mister I just have a quick thought and wanted to see I think it's I think it's great that there's a vision for the future as we continue to grow so my question is is is now an appropriate time as a community as an industry for us to get together to see what we can do about building skill set and raising our service standards and building a service culture here in Saint Kitts so that we are ready for the future when it comes is that something we can entertain absolutely absolutely so when the cruise season ends at the end of this month we're going to be embarking on a series of consultations with the stakeholders in the industry and those are some of the things we intend to be discussing with you yes and and my Deputy CEO has just reminded me that we're a sat in consultations with our hoteliers on the 24th of April so you would be notified exactly where and when so we will start our consultation so that we can commence the new season that's for Crews and uh The Fall season as well and be prepared that was just mentioned from last year's festival and there have been indications for um a few years recently that the festival cannot continue at the price point at which we have it at um when can persons expect that increase or how will the government and the skta deal with such a figure plus what we want to do this year with the injection that was mentioned from the budget finances bottom line and just how do we navigate that space I guess so that it doesn't hit us by surprise if we hear a ticket will now cost um 250 and that that's me probably low balling still secondly with such a diverse lineup That was just mentioned uh appropriate licenses being sought and this was an issue last year so follow up on that please thank you very much just to put things in perspective the music festival is just a part of the offerings of our tourism products so yes we do appreciate it might be costly uh in terms of finances but ultimately the objective is to bring visitors to the destination and so we we continue to try to find a balance in terms of being fiscally prudent and obtaining objectives of having visitors come to our Shores during the off season and providing money of course to our in generating some economic impacts to our local [Music] um economy so yes we did discuss the cost of the ticket compared to the cost of the production and whilst we we need to increase the cost of the tickets we took a decision this year that that's not it's not going to be this year and we went back to the drawing board in terms of how do we then compensate and one of the things we did see was bringing the management back within the ministry and trying our best to be prudent with our spending and not having to pay much you know a lot so when we have competence and capable persons within the ministry who would have worked with the festival over the years who can assist with the management and execution of the festival so it may come it might be inevitable but right now that's that's not something you need to be worrying about in terms of applying for appropriate licenses the team is on all of it we've we are working with our legal team and the management of the various artists as well so we do have that um covered but thank you very much and with Echo some of the fees owed as well as in the 700 000 the excess is for outstanding amounts as well to Echo um I I can't it's not a secret and the accounts that to be published in an event so persons would be privy to the outstanding balances and what it's what what it is in relation to well we don't have the exit reports as yet so we are working on it we are hopeful in the near future but we don't have the benefits of an exit reports just a little comment sorry on the on the festival yes I don't go no more so so it's not too bad fifty dollars for us for three Acts is a giveaway right I mean you have three acts differently it's 50 years for one person for me you're gonna pay 50 US me alone for the whole night that's right we might add you then and me you and the CEO for 50 years yes you guys gonna step it up overall objective the bigger picture and yes we may need to go back to reconsider whether uh you know we need to increase the ticket price but for us we want to make sure that visitors come to the destination it's not if it was just a stage show then the ministry of entertainment would be executing the event but it falls on the tourism because the overall objective is to bring visitors to our Shores good morning Griffin Timothy Beach Resort my question is in regarding to the music festival and airlift what is the plan if airlift is the demand for airlift is greater than the supply well interestingly yesterday I don't ever I might have been speaking with the exec the chairman for the festival and the two additional dates that we got from American Airlines the tickets are already gone my team is traveling at the end of the discussion but we're in discussions to meet with our American Airlines to see what we can do uh and into Caribbean of course to see what we can do to accommodate the demand but the demand definitely is there the festival is serving its purpose in bringing people to our shore so the dates the additional airlift um added those have been sold out already so we we are already considering what the the plan is and let me just add in terms of American Airlines this is actually the first International um music festival that they are actually giving additional Alf to in the past has only been domestic but this is the first time I was International and the way this is going I think we are going to be in a good position moving forward increased yeah lift and persons are wondering about charter flights apparently there was one arranged last year or something and they're wondering if Miami I did indicate that there was mention of the direct flights regarding um AAA as you mentioned earlier but I'm not sure if they're probably looking for something um different I don't know if that would serve as a charter flight no I'm not gonna go into the charter because we have the additional service with Americans so that's the route that we've taken this year my final question in regards to the marketing of Tourism sinkist tourism in the Canadian Marketplace what is the situation now I know that it it was kind of challenging and was kind of there was at one point a kind of focus around golfing what is the situation known with the Canadian Market is there any potential for growth and how much growth you think we can get out of the Canadian market for the next season all right on the Canadian Market fluctuates with the UK in terms of the delivery of business in a pre-covered world that's around about ten thousand eleven thousand passengers per year we have a service with Air Canada that begins in uh November and goes through until April that has been very successful for us this season in fact it was so successful that Canada did not put it on sale so that bodes well um for our initiatives in Canada we do have a marketing plan in Canada where we are looking at using the creatives that are agency tambourine has developed the Venture Diva Campaign which is now a global campaign that is being done used in Canada that has been used in television and also on social we also have a PR agency that has been very active in terms of getting his travel writers influencers bloggers to the destination to create that destination desire it was in Canada and that is complemented by the sales team in Canada who are doing webinars Etc to travel advisors working with the tour operators we're actually going to be meeting with Air Canada next month and at that time you'll see what their plans are one of the things like as to his Advantage out of the Canadian Market is we're close enough North that when we look at the Canadian travel regulations now to go any further south from us is going to require a double crew but in Saint Kitts we are a single crew so that's going to be a unique selling point that we're going to be pushing in the Canadian market for the Airlines and they're going to be looking for um uh worn by the destinations for the winter and get to us with a single crew that's definitely going to be an advantage for us and that's the message that we have been pushing and especially push the roots when we were meeting with the all the Canadian carriers because I guess that we we can wrap up no no questions on the 420 friendly aspect of the festival I think we're all on board okay so thank you all for coming uh I I see a lot of the stakeholders and our partners in the audience and even those of you tuned in online we want to encourage you well thank you for your support continue to you know work on diversifying our offerings and our products so that we remain competitive a lot of other destinations like to say we are coming after Saint Kitts uh they see us as their competitor and for us to remain competitive we need to make sure that we continue to be Innovative we continue to diversify our offerings uh improve our infrastructure which we are mindful of and so we want to continue to work with you we look forward to the upcoming consultations where we will take your your questions your concerns your issues observations whatever we will address them so that we can start off the new Cruise season coming up in October and our summer fun um activities that start off with the same kids music festival we will be pushing the restaurant week in July which would bring visitors to the destination who are interested in our culinary I like to say our culinary tells our story as of who we are as a people it tells it's not it just doesn't taste good but it tells you who we are what we did with the scraps during slavery uh the pig votes and the the intestines from and created black pudding and now it's a delicacy so we will be celebrating restaurants week uh during the week when is this July 13th and I think we have decided I don't think we've decided on the the fruit as yet but we're close to it then we also will be celebrating our you know some of our fun uh Levis mango Festival uh and Nevis say the boasts that they have over 40 varieties of mangoes and so as a part of our Summer Fun calendar we will be celebrating uh the Nevis mango Festival culturama as well would be a part of this the Summer Fun calendar and we close off with CPL the biggest party in sport so stay tuned keep your ears to the ground as we continue our efforts to bring visitors to our destination and of course economic impact for our people of the Federation bearing in mind that this industry uh supports over 40 GDP uh 40 of the GDP for our nation so thank you very much we are thankful that you came we want to continue to work with you the taxi presidents I see representatives from the hotel from the Chamber from frigate Bay the airport all of you thank you very much once again foreign the love you've given me and see I'm not all good for you but in my eyes [Music] let's go they're fantastic I wanna see you throw your hands today [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] she's from another country [Music] [Music] Hello friends [Music] who said hello everybody [Music] I'm all away [Music] [Music] some cry every day we rise [Music] now sell my soldiers [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause]

2023-05-04 00:16

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