St Helena is about to start a new chapter in its history as the island prepares for a tourism influx following a successful technical stop at its new airport, potentially increasing tourism numbers by almost eight times.
A game changer for the British Overseas Territory, the remote destination
hit the significant milestone in its history at the end of October, successfully landing the flight at its new £201.5m (US$246.3m, €225.6m) airport, which was crucial due to concerns over wind shearing.
According to the island’s tourist board, a number of airlines are currently in negotiation for either weekly or bi-weekly flights. A limit of 900 visitors per week – or 46,800 people per year – has been set by the government to protect the environment. The aim is to bring in low volume, high value tourism to make St Helena – which is currently totally reliant upon grant aid from the UK government – self-dependant.
In 2015, the island welcomed around 10,000 visitors, though those numbers were significantly boosted by diverted cruise ships thanks to the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Typical annual numbers would be closer to 6,000.
“When we know what’s coming, where it’s coming from and how much it’s going to cost, we’ve got a mountain of tour operators who would like to promote us,” said Christopher Pickard, director of tourism for St Helena, speaking to
Attractions Management. “We’re aiming for low quantity, high quality tourism.”
One of the island’s key selling points, is its position in history as the location for Napoleon Bonaparte’s 1815 exile.
“We’re building up to 2021 which is the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s death and we expect the French to be heavily involved in promoting that with us,” said Pickard. “The island has this incredible history and it’s one you can actually explore and get involved with. 2021 is going to be big for us.”
In its bid to attract more tourism, a number of accommodation options are currently under development for the island. The South Africa-based Mantis Hotel group is at the forefront of these developments, where it is creating a 32-bedroom boutique hotel in Jamestown, which will also have a restaurant and bar.
There are also plans to convert the airport’s worker camp, with the temporary cabins being turned into lodges to offer accommodation, while also offering a break for hikers.
Additionally, the island has just launched Bertrand’s Cottage as an accommodation option. Built to house General Henri Bertrand – Napoleon’s right hand man – the 20-year-old building has been restored and reopened as a three-room guesthouse with a restaurant.
Finally, there are plans for a £70m (US$87.7m, €82.6m) hotel, villa and golf course project by UK-based architecture firm Purcell. Funded by Shelco, the project hit a stumbling block when the developer made it clear the project could not succeed if the island can only be reached via South Africa and if flights were too infrequent.
“They still have planning permission and can theoretically start building at any time,” said Pickard. “It was a Catch-22 position where they said it wouldn’t be worth building until there’s two flights a week and we said well we can’t have two flights a week until there’s a hotel. They’ve got a piece of land and its a large project, so we hope the new developments mean it can be realised.”
In terms of the island being able to cope with increased tourism, Pickard said that cruise ships stopping over for the day have proven St Helena’s population and infrastructure can cope with visitors.
“When the ships come in we get 500-600 passengers for a day,” he said. “When those tourists are there we can see that the island can quite happily cope with those larger numbers of people. It acts as a sort of trial run for us.
“The first regular flight will probably add 4,000 new tourists each year,” said Pickard. “Another doubles that. It’s very much dictated by the number of people that we can accommodate but we’re going out and speaking to people and keeping it in front of them. Soon we’ll have this moment where we can go up to people and tell them ‘we’re ready’.”
