A release from the government has quoted the Minister as saying, “We’re trying to get our own people and our visitors to learn more about what really makes the Caribbean the Caribbean . . . that marries our nature, our culture and our history.”

Skerritt said the region is looking at ways of enriching visitors’ experiences, from teaching about the origin of spices, in preparing food, to the types of beats in music.

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Tourism and International Transport, while speaking in Halifax, Canada, said the allure of sun and sand serves the Caribbean well in attracting millions of visitors each year, but the region wants to add its culture to the list of reasons people should visit.

He said there are opportunities to convert this wealth of the African experience and the knowledge and the documentation of it and interpret and present it in ways within the demands of tourism in a commercial way that can benefit in our countries and enhance the experience of our visitors.

Skerritt was one of about 360 delegates from at least 15 countries, who attended the Seventh Annual African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference in Halifax, last Sunday, 25th September, 2011.

The release said Skerritt went to the conference because he wanted to learn more about the African experience, but also because he wanted to bring a message that other regions of the world can use their history and culture to their benefit.