St. Kitts expands island’s tourism plan for 2006-2007

The end of 350 years of sugar production on the island of St. Kitts last August signalled the transition to a tourism-based and tourist-driven economy. The short term tourism plan for 2006-2007 will see a number of luxury developments.  There is a  $78 million project at Sandy Bank Bay developed by Auberge Resorts which will feature a 50-room luxury hotel, a golf course, a spa, villas and dining facilities with an opening set for 2008. Kittitian Heights, a 390-acre, $140 million project will include a golf course; a boutique hotel built as a series of Kittitian cottages; villas, townhouses and condominium apartments; a spa; and an artists’ village with cafes, restaurants, shops, and a movie theater. The resort is being developed by Terra Forma Developments Ltd. and construction begins in the first quarter of 2006. The Cable Bay Resort and Villa development, which breaks ground this month in the Frigate Bay area, will include a 300-room resort with 160 villas, a spa, a pool and several restaurants. Up to 150 rooms are scheduled to open by March 2007 for guests attending the World Cricket Cup games.   The airport also is scheduled for a $17 million expansion; a bypass road will be built to enable traffic to skirt Basseterre from Frigate Bay, and more than a dozen high-end shops will open at Port Zante cruise pier.