Saint Kitts' new chief executive visits UK travel trade

Fontenelle and her team visited operators & agents including Trailfinders, Sackville Travel, Dnata, Lotus Travel, & Newmont Travel as well as British Airways, which serves the island twice weekly, year-round.  

They also hosted 25 independent travel agents at a dedicated event in Leeds. Agents enjoyed networking over drinks & canapes, a presentation on the latest tourism developments in St. Kitts, & a prize draw to win bottles of Kittitian rum.

“As one of the smaller Caribbean islands, the trade is vitally important to us in driving tourism. Agents with specialist knowledge are invaluable in helping to match the right UK holidaymakers with our destination” said Kelly Fontenelle, Chief Executive Officer.

“We want visitors to journey beyond the beaches & ‘venture deeper’ into the heart of our island, discovering our history, culture, heritage, natural beauty & the inimitable personality of our islanders.

“We’re traditionally seen as a winter-sun destination, but we have plenty to entertain guests in the summer, including the St. Kitts Music Festival in June & Restaurant Week in July.

“This year we shifted our trade focus from one annual trade roadshow to a series of quarterly in-person events with travel agents & tour operators; & we’ve increased our visits to retail travel agencies, & training via webinars.  We have brought 17 agents on fam trips to St. Kitts this year & are proud to have over 4,000 UK agents registered to My St. Kitts Rewards & 1,500 agents registered to our online training programme, stkittsspecialist.com. 

“We will continue to invest heavily in UK trade events, incentives & training in 2025 & fam visits will remain key.  We want agents and operators to experience St. Kitts first-hand & fully immerse themselves in St. Kitts’ authentic side.”