St. Kitts & Nevis Strategic Plan Tourism Development 2002

Like most small island economies, St. Kitts and Nevis is at a crossroads. Accelerating globalization, rapidly vanishing preferential treatment for agricultural exports, and a threatened offshore financial services industry leave small islands with increasingly limited options for stimulating economic growth. The competitive advantages that St. Kitts and Nevis and others in the Caribbean enjoy nearly all relate to their stunning natural beauty, mild climate, rich heritage, pristine environment, and pace of life. These assets cannot be manufactured and provide an important foundation for development of the one export industry that holds long-term, sustainable development potential-Tourism. The principal challenge in stimulating tourism growth is to define strategies that preserve those assets for future generations, generate broad-based economic impacts across all segments of society, and make the most productive use of limited resources.