Lights, Camera, Paradise: How Pamela Martin Is Putting Nevis on the Map Through Film and Tourism

There are destinations that beg to be discovered, and then there are destinations that are actively engineering their own discovery. Nevis — the tiny, 36-square-mile jewel nestled in the northeastern Caribbean — belongs firmly in the second category. And at the center of that strategic, passionate push is Pamela Martin: Board Chair of the Nevis Tourism Authority (NTA) and the island’s first Film Commissioner. In a wide-ranging conversation on the Tripcast360 podcast, Martin revealed how a one-time graphic designer from the UK fell in love with her ancestral homeland and has spent over 25 years transforming it into one of the Caribbean’s most compelling destinations for travelers, filmmakers, and investors alike.

From Graphic Design to Destination Leadership: A Journey Rooted in Heritage

Pamela Martin’s path to becoming one of the Caribbean’s most influential tourism leaders was anything but conventional. Born in the United Kingdom to Nevisian parents, Martin was working as a new business development assistant at a graphic design consultancy when a vacation to Nevis in 1994 changed everything.

“Something in the air just captivated me,” she recalled. “The atmosphere, the people, the environment, the natural landscapes — it just captured me.” Six months later, Martin had packed up and moved to the island, driven by a desire to embrace her heritage and contribute to the community her parents had left behind.

Today, she is serving her third term as NTA Board Chair, having been reappointed in 2020, 2022, and 2024 — a sustained vote of confidence from the Minister of Tourism, the Honorable Mark Brantley, who first appointed her. Martin attributes her longevity to one guiding principle: understanding the minister’s vision and building the right team to execute it, while never losing sight of Nevis’s distinct identity.

Small Island, Big Punch: The Nevis Tourism Philosophy

Nevis has never tried to be Jamaica, Barbados, or any other Caribbean giant. That’s intentional. Martin and the NTA have steadfastly guarded the island’s identity as a “luxury barefoot destination” — a place of wide-open beaches, authentic culture, and intimate hospitality.

“We have always been focused on maintaining that barefoot, luxury, spacious outlook for Nevis,” Martin explained. With no cruise port welcoming thousands of day-trippers, no traffic lights interrupting the pastoral calm, no fast-food chains lining the roads, and strict building height restrictions, Nevis has deliberately chosen quality over quantity in its tourism model.

Yet the island punches well above its weight historically. Nevis is home to the Bath Hotel, widely recognized as the first hotel in the Caribbean, and hosted the Four Seasons Resort — the first Five Diamond hotel in the Caribbean — since 1990. Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States, was born here. These stories give Nevis a historical footprint far larger than its geography suggests.

“The size of the island really is just a number,” Martin said. “We are larger than life in a real sense.”

Lights, Camera, Nevis: Building a Film Industry from Scratch

Perhaps the most exciting chapter in Nevis’s recent story is the emergence of a film industry — one that was, at its origins, almost entirely accidental. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when most of the tourism world stood still, a production company found its way to Nevis after travel restrictions blocked their original Caribbean destination. The island’s size and agility made it ideal for creating the “bubble” environments needed for safe filming.

Between 2021 and 2023, nine films were produced on the island, employing approximately 150 local residents during a period when hospitality had ground to a halt. Several of those films went on to stream on major platforms including Amazon and Netflix. What began as a fortunate accident became a strategic opportunity.

Martin was appointed as Film Commissioner in August 2023, and the Nevis Film Commission was officially launched in June 2025 with the landmark screening of a documentary about the making of the Broadway sensation Hamilton — a production that confirmed on screen what Nevisians have always known: that Alexander Hamilton was born on their island.

“I wanted them to hear Nevis in the midst of that documentary,” Martin said of the moment the audience heard the island’s name spoken aloud in the film. “The audience just erupted into cheers and applause.” Since the Commission’s formation, Nevis has hosted approximately eight additional productions, with partnerships in place with US-based streaming and television networks for projects expected to release in 2026 and 2027.

Why Filmmakers Are Choosing Nevis Over Larger Caribbean Destinations

When pitching Nevis to international producers — especially those accustomed to the established film infrastructure of Jamaica or Puerto Rico — Martin has developed a compelling elevator pitch built around the island’s unique advantages.

Location scouting is virtually effortless: you can travel between any two points on the island in 10 to 15 minutes, making scheduling and logistics dramatically simpler. Government permitting is fast and seamless because of the island’s compact governance structure. Most crucially, heritage sites, historical sites, and public locations are made available to productions free of charge — a significant financial incentive that larger islands simply cannot match.

In lieu of traditional cash rebates, the Nevis Film Commission offers incentives in the form of accommodation and food and beverage credits — leaning directly into the island’s strongest assets. A production team that stays at a world-class boutique hotel and dines on exceptional Nevisian cuisine is likely to become one of the destination’s most powerful marketing ambassadors.

Most importantly, Martin ensures that every production commits to representing Nevis as Nevis — not as a generic Caribbean backdrop. “If you’re going to call it Nevis, then we want you to show it as authentically Nevisian as possible,” she said. So far, every production has honored that expectation.

Experiential Tourism: What Makes Nevis Unforgettable

The modern traveler — especially post-pandemic — is no longer satisfied with sun, sand, and a poolside cocktail. They want connection, authenticity, and stories to bring home. Nevis delivers all three.

One of the island’s most talked-about experiences is “cooking from the land” with local farmer and potter Ras Iroi, where visitors pick organic vegetables from the ground, prepare them, and eat the meal they’ve cooked — often from hand-made clay pots. It’s an experience that is equal parts culinary, cultural, and philosophical. Tours led by Greg Phillip weave storytelling through the island’s landscape, including a deeply engaging narrative about Alexander Hamilton’s Nevisian origins. And the thermal hot springs at Bath Hotel — said to have therapeutic properties — offer a wellness experience unlike anything else in the region.

“Nevis feels like home,” Martin noted that returning visitors frequently say. “Everybody is just their natural, authentic self.” Even the island’s informal charms — like the Water Authority staff who host a beloved Friday night barbecue roadside — have become part of the destination’s magnetic pull.

Festivals, Food, and the Mango That Launched a Movement

Nevis has built a robust festival calendar that serves double duty: it preserves culture and draws visitors during traditionally slower travel months. Culturama, the island’s annual two-week cultural festival held in July and August, is the centerpiece — a multi-generational celebration that engages children, seniors, diaspora visitors, and international tourists alike.

But perhaps the most deliciously ambitious entry in the island’s event lineup is the Mango Festival, now in its eleventh year. With 44 varieties of mango — more than virtually any other destination in the region — Nevis transforms its culinary landscape every July into a four-day celebration of the beloved fruit. In 2025, the festival drew 4,000 patrons, up from 2,500 the previous year. The event features approximately 50 chefs serving mango-infused dishes ranging from appetizers to desserts.

“Even when I travel around the world, people say, ‘Oh yes, the Mango Festival — I’m dying to come,'” Martin shared, reflecting on how the event has become an internationally recognized draw. The Nevis to St. Kitts Cross Channel Swim, meanwhile, is one of the top 100 open water swims in the world and is targeting 750 swimmers for its 2026 event on March 28 — drawing participants from Pakistan, Romania, Australia, New Zealand, and beyond.

Sustainable Tourism and the Push for UNESCO Recognition

For Nevis, sustainable tourism isn’t a marketing buzzword — it’s a lived commitment. The island partners with the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society to preserve heritage and ecological sites, and the Ministry of Tourism runs school programs specifically designed to ensure young Nevisians understand and value their island’s history.

A major milestone in that effort: the Bath Hotel is currently undergoing restoration with grant funding from the United States, with the goal of achieving UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. If successful, it would cement the hotel’s legacy as not only the first hotel in the Caribbean, but one of the world’s recognized cultural landmarks.

Mentorship, Community, and the Next Generation of Nevisian Leaders

Martin’s impact on Nevis extends well beyond tourism arrivals and box office returns. As a member of the advisory board for the Nevis Island Government’s Gender Affairs Department Girls Mentorship Program, she is investing in the next generation of young Nevisian women — helping them navigate careers, relationships, self-development, and ambition.

“I love to see people be at their best and do what they love to do,” she said. “In one year, we’ve already seen such transformations — it’s the passion of my heart.” The program, launched approximately a year ago, reflects Martin’s belief that destination development must be inseparable from community development.

Looking Ahead: Brand Awareness, New Markets, and Embracing Technology

Despite Nevis’s growing profile, Martin is candid about the work that remains. Brand awareness is still her biggest challenge: even today, she encounters potential visitors who have never heard of the island. Reaching new markets — particularly the affluent African American market, which has become a major focus over the past two years — is central to the NTA’s current strategy.

On the technology front, the Film Commission is actively exploring AI-assisted production and has already embraced vertical filming — a format tailor-made for the social-media-scrolling Gen Z audience. Martin attended the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, where industry leaders from major networks including Tubi and Lifetime made clear that AI integration is not optional for the future of film. She is approaching the technology thoughtfully, determined not to let it dilute the authentic Nevisian identity that makes the island’s productions so compelling.

On the airlift front — perennially the Achilles heel of smaller Caribbean islands — plans are in progress to expand the Nevis airport to accommodate larger private aircraft. In the meantime, Martin reframes the challenge as an opportunity: the six-minute water taxi crossing from St. Kitts, with the magnificent Nevis Peak rising ahead in the distance, is not a logistical inconvenience but “the start of your journey.”

Nevis Is Ready for Its Close-Up

Pamela Martin’s story — from heritage-seeking immigrant to the architect of Nevis’s global cultural and cinematic identity — is itself worthy of a film. Under her stewardship, a tiny island that was once a well-kept secret is becoming a case study in how small destinations can compete, innovate, and lead through authenticity rather than scale.

For travelers, filmmakers, foodies, open-water swimmers, history enthusiasts, and cultural seekers, Nevis is no longer just a hidden gem. It’s an emerging global stage — and the cameras are rolling.

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