NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (April 15, 2013) — Overall tourism revenue for Nevis at the end of the first two months of 2013, showed an increase of 13 percent over the corresponding period for 2012 and a 39 percent increase over that of 2011.  The announcement came from Deputy Premier and Minister of Tourism in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Hon. Mark Brantley on April 15, 2013, in a televised account on the state of the island’s tourism.

Mr. Brantley said his report on tourism was part of the Administration’s ongoing effort to keep the people of Nevis informed on critical developments in sectors vital to the island’s economy since it had ushered in a new era of openness and transparency in Government.

“Overall tourism revenues for the first two months of 2013 increased by 13 percent compared with the same period for 2012 and are 39 percent better than the figures for 2011.

“Hotel revenues improved 15.7 percent island-wide for the first two months of 2013, compared with the same period for 2012 and are up a dramatic 49.3 percent compared with 2011. The revenue for guest houses increased by 61.4 percent for the same period in 2013 compared with 2012,” he said.

The Tourism Minister reported that in the area of hotel occupancies, an analysis of the figures indicates an encouraging improvement for 2013, when compared to that of 2012 which suggested that Nevis’ tourism was once again on the rebound.

According to Mr. Brantley, hotel occupancy in January 2012 was 47.8 percent and increased to 60.3 percent in January 2013. In February 2012 it was 52.8 percent with a jump to 71.5 percent for the same period in 2013. The 2012 average for both months were recorded at 56.6 percent and 65.7 percent for the corresponding period in 2013.

He noted that the island-wide average hotel occupancy for January and February 2013 was up 9.1 percent over the same period in 2012. The average occupancy for January 2013 was 12.5 percent better than that of January 2012 while the figure for February 2013 was 18.7 percent higher than February 2012.

Mr. Brantley further added that one hotel in particular significantly improved its February 2013 occupancy by 22.8 percent compared to the same period last year.

The Tourism Minister described the growth in tourism as positive and encouraging.

“I find this positive growth truly encouraging and tourism stakeholders can rest assured that every support will be given to ensure that tourism in Nevis continues to trend in the right direction,” he said.