Basseterre -- Jan. 7, 2009 -- The closure of the Four Seasons Resort in Nevis is being seen as a blow to tourism St. Kitts and Nevis.

Four Seasons Resort Nevis is currently closed through to April 30, 2009. The temporary closure is due to impacts from Hurricane Omar.

Federal Minister of State for Tourism, Sen. the Hon. Richard Skerritt said the closure will “hurt the federation in several ways,” including fewer visitors on the ground spending.

Senator Skerrit told BBC Caribbean that St. Kitts and Nevis would also be hurt because a percentage of the visitors were arriving on international airlift that the government had contracted with airlines like British Airways to supply.

He said it might now
be a little more difficult to fill seats and it “puts the airlift arrangement at a bit more of a risk.”

Four Seasons, seen as a major employer in Nevis, suffered damage from Hurricane during last year’s transatlantic hurricane season.

American Airlines operates a daily flight from Miami and a twice weekly flight from New York into the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport. Delta airlines operates a weekly flight from Atlanta and US Airways weekly flights from Charlotte and Philadelphia. American Eagle operates a daily flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico and the regional carrier, LIAT and WINAIR also operate several flights daily to the Robert L. Bradshaw Inetrnational Airport on St. Kitts and the Vance W. Amory International Airport on Nevis.

British Airways commences a weekly flight from London-Gatwick from Saturday January 10.