For a small island of 115km2, St Helena punches above its weight in terms of the diversity of its offerings:
- The island has over 500 years of history and a pristine ocean environment with fantastic marine life.
- St Helena’s habitats and biomes are incredibly varied, largely due to the ranging topography, which is ideal for adventure activities.
- The island has unique culture and people, the “Saints”.
So says Mark Brooks, St Helena's Minister of Treasury and Economic Development, who oversees the island’s tourism portfolio. In this exclusive Q&A, he discusses opportunities for growth.
Q: How much development has there been on St Helena to date?
A: “We are doing much work to shape ‘brand St Helena’ and have seen increased recognition and traction post-COVID, particularly with the travel trade. But we’re only in our fourth full year of air access-based tourism since the airport opened in late 2017. We recognise there’s work to be done to raise awareness to securely position the destination.”
Q: What’s a misconception about St Helena?
A: “One of the main misconceptions is that St Helena and the waters around the island are cold. This stems from years of our marketing slogan ‘St Helena, South Atlantic’ when we should be saying ‘St Helena, sub-tropical Atlantic’ as sea temperatures vary between 19-26°C and the climate is a very comfortable 15-28°C.”
Q: How is St Helena's tourism strategy evolving?
A: “We've changed our strategy in recent years as we've shifted to do more work with the travel trade but also to bring tour operators and agents to experience St Helena for themselves along with journalists. There's nothing like experiencing the island firsthand to develop a passion for it.
“It’s very difficult to sell St Helena with confidence if you’ve never visited. We’re spending more money bringing people in, like our showcase event in April this year, rather than spending money just ‘going away’. There are other ways we are evolving our strategies but I just mention this one as an example.”
Q: How does the island encourage sustainability?
A: “We're promoting eco-tourism on the island with a strong commitment to sustainability through our blue and green agendas.
“Solar and wind power account for up to 21% and an average of 15% of our current energy production. The island has about 12 hours of sunlight daily nine months of the year and there's always a breeze, which is good for wind turbines.
“We're aiming to achieve 80% renewable energy generation by 2028. It's an ambitious target but one we can meet because of our small demand (three megawatts).
“We’re changing legislation around energy provision for the island in terms of how energy is charged and distributed with plans to expand our renewable energy infrastructure.
“We’re undertaking a modelling and design exercise to determine the system that would best suit the island as well as how to update and incorporate it into our current energy infrastructure. Next, we’ll seek expressions of interest for an external company to build our renewable energy infrastructure.
“Once in place, we’ll look at policies to transform the island to using more green technologies. Electric vehicles are becoming cheaper and more efficient but cannot claim to be green if they’re being charged using fossil fuels.
“We want to get the infrastructure right to roll out a pilot system that encourages the community to import more electric vehicles, especially as the island is small with short distances and the cost of imported petrol and diesel is high.”
Q: How is the island prioritising marine tourism?
A: “Marine tourism is one of St Helena’s biggest sellers as whale sharks come to the island in the summer months, between January and April, when the sea is at its warmest and clearest. The visibility is on average 25 metres, and the average temperature is 22-23°C, so you don't need a wetsuit for swimming or snorkelling.
“There’s a pristine ocean around the island with hardly any pollution because we’re so isolated. We protect this with a 200-mile (322km) Category VI Marine Protected Area around the island that includes strict laws and regulations. We regulate how tourists interact with marine wildlife to ensure that snorkelling with whale sharks is done in a controlled and responsible manner that doesn’t stress the animals.”
Q: How is St Helena driving tourism product development?
A: “As we're located in the middle of the ocean, we are a strategic stopping point for marine visitors. We're developing a new port in Rupert's Valley, which will handle all cargo operations that currently take place in Jamestown, to free it to become a leisure space for recreational tourism for visitors and locals.
“I envision Jamestown waterfront and marina as a place with coffee shops, restaurants and nightlife where people can have cocktails during sunset and enjoy our warm climate while private businesses can sell their products directly.
“My aspiration is for yachts and small cruises to dock for a few days with access to power, fresh water, bathroom facilities and grocery stores for supplies to encourage them to spend money on the island. We’re hoping it’ll be a cheaper alternative to other ports around the world. St Helena welcomes around 250 yachts annually.
“We’ve formed a waterfront development group and hope to have concept designs by mid-2025 when we’ll submit strategic business, economic and social cases to our funders – whether they be private or the UK government. This will help us to develop the island to become more self-sufficient while creating a better tourism environment for our community and visitors.
“If we build and promote it, hopefully they will come, especially as the island has a long history as a marine jurisdiction with high marine traffic that served many ships. We want to attract more yachts to recreate the kind of marine tourism the island was used to.
“Before the Suez Canal opened in 1869, St Helena was a strategic stopping point for trade ships coming from India and Madagascar around the Cape of Good Hope before heading back to the UK and Europe.”
Q: How are you addressing the challenges of developing tourism on St Helena?
A: “One of the biggest challenges, even if you have a great tourism plan, is getting funds to grow the tourism and hospitality sectors. St Helena relies heavily on grant-in-aid from the UK and – as a small, isolated island – we have challenges with our remoteness and access.
“The island has a small population of 4 000 and no real volume exports. Like many small islands, tourism is pegged as a key economic driver.
“We recognise that no singular activity is going to significantly enhance tourism so we’re simultaneously focusing on business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing activities, product development (key infrastructure upgrades) and capacity building (training, upskilling and staffing for the public and private sectors).
“The UK government has graciously supported our tourism recovery strategy with additional ring-fenced funding while initiating a tourism development programme (in its second year) to support tourism development. St Helena won’t become self-sustaining overnight but we are making important strides in the right direction.”
Q: How does the island hope to attract more travellers from Africa?
A: “In the past two years, we’ve grown our visibility in South Africa with a dedicated South African-based agency, Big Ambitions, to support our marketing and public relations efforts. We have also attended more South African trade shows such as WTM Africa.
“In 2025, we hope to partner with more inbound operators looking for alternatives to Indian Ocean islands with twin centre trips (as safari and scuba sell well) and shorter bolt-ons made possible with the mid-week Airlink flights in peak season.
Q: How is St Helena commemorating slave trade history?
A: “Much of our maritime history is based around the East India Company and the abolition of slavery. In the late 1830s, the British Navy intercepted ships that were still trading slaves. Some were so malnourished and afflicted by disease that they didn't survive. Although they were no longer slaves, they never returned home.
“Adam Sizeland, Director of the St Helena Museum, is working to respectfully commemorate our slave trade history along with significant work by the St Helena National Trust. We recently reburied the remains of over 325 slaves who were excavated from mass graves in Rupert’s Valley during construction of the airport road. This was possible thanks to the involvement of the whole community who volunteered their time, skills and services coupled with funding from the UK government.
“There’s a circle of stones on the reburial site that is located on neutral ground near a small church. Each year, we’ll mark the reburial by showing our respects. Additionally, St Helena Tourism and other stakeholders organise educational activities such as the Routes/Roots walk that visits key slave sites across the island during a walking challenge.
“We're planning to build an interpretation centre on the slave trade and its abolition in Rupert's Valley to tell the story of its impact on St Helena. It's a slow process but we want to get it right so that people understand the history.”
