by Brian Major
Last updated: 5:54 PM ET, Tue October 13, 2020
Preparing for the October 31 reopening of its borders to international visitors, Nevis launched an island-wide "Health Campaign" initiative Tuesday. The program is designed to "educate and train citizens, residents and stakeholders" on protocols to curb COVID-19 transmission and prevent community spread while "instilling confidence in potential visitors," said Nevis Tourism Authority (NTA) officials.
Health Campaign components consist of tourism and hospitality personnel training programs plus communication strategies including public service announcements (PSAs), billboards placed in high-traffic locations across the island and social media promotion.
The billboard and social media communications include "Responsible Travel Creates Healthy Destinations!" messages intended for residents, and "A Safe Nevis Depends on You!" appeals targeted to Nevis visitors. The campaign will be promoted on social media platforms using the #Today4Tomorrow hashtag.
The campaign features six PSA videos that feature Mark Brantley, Nevis' premier, Hazel Brandy-Williams, Nevis' junior minister of health, and prominent business professionals, all encouraging residents and visitors to observe the country's health and safety protocols including wearing masks in public, sanitizing and washing hands frequently and maintaining social distancing.
Last week Lindsay Grant, tourism minister for St. Kitts and Nevis, the twin-island nation of which Nevis is the smaller sister isle, outlined protocols under which the country will reopen to international travelers.
"We have to assure the visitors we hope will come and our folks at home that Nevis is a safe destination and that we are conducting ourselves in a responsible way," said Mark Brantley, Nevis' premier, in a public address broadcast on Facebook. "We have done an extraordinary amount of investment to make sure that we are in a position to respond," Brantley said.
"As we reopen, new challenges are going to emerge. Some hotels are going to be reopening in the first phase; we expect others to follow shortly thereafter. People will be coming in, some from so-called hot spots," he said.
"We can expect there will be challenges and we will meet those challenges in a responsible way," Brantley added. "We look forward to welcoming guests back to our island in a responsible and same way."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has assessed St. Kitts and Nevis' risk for COVID-19 transmission to be "very low," and designating the Federation as a "No Travel Health Notice" destination, said NTA officials. Nevis recorded six confirmed COVID-19 cases with no fatalities.
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