Last Updated on July 10, 2026, 5:28 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The Minister of Tourism, Marsha Henderson delivered an address during the St Kitts and Nevis St. Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce Quarterly Luncheon. The luncheon was hosted on July 8, and Minister Henderson provided a detailed update on the development of the Tourism Sector of the country.
The Minister talked about the groundbreaking of the new cruise terminal at Port Zante, hosted om July 1, 2026. She highlighted that “We broke ground not only on a new cruise terminal, but on a major business opportunity for our Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
The construction of the cruise terminal is expected to end by August 2027, which will help so that homeporting operations, which start in November 2027 can be supported adequately.
The groundbreaking of the terminal will position St Kitts and Nevis as a destination to become a turnaround port. The development also helps in furthering the island’s ambition of home porting project.
The Minister has shared that the project is the most significant economic development initiatives in the modern history of the federation. She said that the success of the project and the initiative is not only the responsibility of the government but also of the people of the island.
Minister Henderson talked about the growth of the cruise season during the 2025-2026 cruise season and highlighted the constant growth that the sector has seen in recent years.
The nation has welcomed 957,682 passengers by the means of cruise arrivals. This is a major milestone compared to the numbers recorded during the previous years.
The increase of the cruise arrivals to the island also highlights the overall growth of the island’s tourism sector. To capitalise on this, the tourism sector is also working on increasing visitor spending on the island.
This mandate of the island is also seeing success as the average spending of the tourists has also increased from US$135 to US$145. The island has been working towards preparing for the homeporting which would further strengthen the tourism sector of the country.
With homeporting, several sectors of the island will be poised towards development. The homeporting operations are expected to encourage more and more growth on the island.
The homeporting operations will bring opportunities for the Agriculture Sector, highlighting that they have to work more intentionally with agriculture and local producers to supply items needed by the cruise lines.
The officials have shared that they have a list of provisions that the cruise liners will need for their operations. The officials have shared that with the demand of 40,000 eggs every week translate to significant opportunity for the poultry and agriculture sector
To this end, Minister Henderson highlighted that Our challenge is to determine how St. Kitts and Nevis can capture its share of that opportunity. This will require planning, consistency, very importantly, standards, coordination and investment.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
