St. Kitts and Nevis to Reopen Borders on October 31, 2020

St. Kitts and Nevis is pleased to once again welcome visitors to its shores beginning October 31, 2020. In order to ensure a responsible reopening of its borders, the Federation is the last Caribbean destination to do so.

“The CDC recently assessed the Federation’s Covid-19 risk as very low and designated it as “No Travel Notice” required, having had only 19 cases of the Coronavirus, no community spread and no deaths.

“We have been working diligently to prepare for this reopening to ensure that we are ready to welcome travelers by training and certifying local businesses and individuals in the health and safety protocols they are required to meet and be certified in to be permitted to operate,” said the Hon. Lindsay F.P. Grant, Minister of Tourism, Transport and Ports. “This is particularly important as we encourage visitors to explore our islands beyond their hotels to experience what makes us a unique, authentic and quintessential Caribbean experience.”

The Hon. Mark Brantley, Minister of Foreign Affairs & Aviation, added, “The genuinely friendly people of St. Kitts & Nevis are a key component of our tourism product, so the protocols we have established aim to provide for their safety in interacting with visitors as well as visitors’ safety in interacting with our people. It is critical to travelers’ perceptions of St. Kitts & Nevis as a safe and desirable destination of choice as well as to citizens and residents own safety in embracing their return.”

The twin-island Federation has received international recognition of their successful management of the first wave of the global pandemic as a result of early and aggressive testing, contact tracing and quarantine program along with an “All of Society Approach” that includes mask-wearing in public, social distancing and sanitization protocols to ensure everyone’s health and safety. Key outlets such as the BBC, Sky News and Tripoto have named St. Kitts & Nevis among the few countries in the world to have effectively “beat” the virus.

Ongoing and careful consultation with the Chief Medical Officer and Ministry of Health to fully develop and implement health and safety protocols for the entire industry was paramount to ensure the well-being of all citizens, residents and visitors. In fact, for business to reopen, tourism industry businesses, employers and employees must undergo “Travel Approved” training for their respective sector/business/department and upon completion of the training they receive the “Travel Approved” Certification and Seal. The “Travel Approved” Certification and Seal provides assurance to citizens, residents and visitors the destination is ensuring health and safety protocols are not compromised in St. Kitts & Nevis and can be trusted.

It was only then St. Kitts & Nevis decided to reopen its borders.

Mandatory COVID-19 training begins for tourist-related businesses

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Mandatory training exercises for bars, restaurants and other tourist-related businesses began today and will continue through August 27. According to Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Lindsay Grant, participating businesses will be certified as being prepared to provide services that are different in the COVID-19 environment.

“All stakeholders are required to attend training, which started on July 22,” Hon. Grant. “They will not be allowed to open if they do not attend and receive certification.

“Businesses, restaurants, bars and other tourism stakeholders that do not attend NEOC training will not be allowed to open,” said the minister. “After the training exercises participants will be certified. Bars and restaurants that don’t have those certifications will not be allowed to open.”

Minister Grant said that the health and well-being of the patrons is of paramount importance.

Week one of the training for bars and restaurants began July 22 through July 24. Week two, from July 27 to 31 will train taxi and tour bus operators and accommodation purveyors. The training will continue until August 27.

The Ministry of Tourism will introduce a travel approved seal. Its objective is to identify businesses and operators that meet the minimum health standards and safety protocols.

“We need to establish a minimum standard to improve visitor confidence,” said Hon. Grant. “We can use the certification as a marketing tool that can be leveraged in the marketplace as a value-added item improving the destination marketability.”