[ISL] "St. Kitts keeps its soul, retirees keep their wealth"

[rfmcdonald]

Adam Stanley reports for The Globe and Mail about how St. Kitts and Nevis is attracting retirees with its liberal citizenship policies.

The two-island nation of St. Kitts-Nevis has an authentic Caribbean feel, a trait becoming increasingly rare as gentrification and big developments take over the surrounding islands.

“A lot of stuff happened to the [other] islands that was very tourism-focused, and they almost lost their soul,” explains real estate agent Joanne Delay, an expat from Britain. “Islands have huge hotels and casinos. That, to me, is not the essence of the Caribbean.”

So for retirees looking to slow things down, St. Kitts in particular is an idyllic escape that is equal parts out-of-the-ordinary and a flashback to a simpler Caribbean time when food and entertainment dominated the culture.

Spotted in 1493 by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus (Kitts is a short form of Christopher), the island was populated with native tribes before Europeans colonized it in 1623. Since gaining its independence from Britain in 1983, a strong effort has been made to nourish local culture.

Darren Thompson, a Toronto native and director of operations at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel, a boutique low-rise that’s across the road from one of St. Kitts’ many white sand beaches, explains his hotel has a couple of people living there full-time who are retired.