BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS — St. Kitts & Nevis will be reopening its borders to international visitors in October with the resumption of air and sea commercial traffic.
Prime Minister Timothy Harris made the announcement at a press briefing yesterday, Aug. 11, where he also announced that the destination has successfully flatted the curve. St. Kitts & Nevis has the fewest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in all the CARICOM independent states, with a total of 17 cases. There are currently zero active cases at this time, and zero deaths to date due to the destination’s “all society approach” and adherence to established protocols.
According to the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, all incoming passengers must provide a negative RT-PCR test result to the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, at hazel.laws@gov.kn, 72 hours prior to arrival. All passengers must also quarantine for a minimum period of 14 days; on the 14th day, they must then take another RT-PCR test. Once a negative test result is achieved, they will be released from quarantine.
In anticipation of the reopening, the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, the Nevis Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism, in conjunction with the Ministries of Health and Civil Aviation, are currently conducting training for over 5,000 tourism industry stakeholders, including hotels, at no cost to them. Stakeholders must meet safety protocols and standards in order to obtain the ‘Travel Approved’ certification and seal from the respective Tourism Authority that will be required for them to operate.
Major hotels have already announced their reopening plans, including the St. Kitts Marriott Resort and Park Hyatt St. Kitts (reopening in October), and Koi, a Curio Collection by Hilton hotel (reopening in Q4). The park Hyatt’s Fisherman’s Village reopened on Aug. 7, while the Royal St. Kitts Hotel is currently operating with reduced capacity. The Four Seasons Resort Nevis will soon announce reopening plans.
For reopening updates from other destinations go to https://www.travelweek.ca/news/destinations-reopening-list-2/.
