GREAT BAY – The hotel industry in St. Maarten has been hit hard by Hurricane Irma. It will probably take until the end of 2018 before the sector is fully operational again, says Ricardo Perez, general manager of the Oyster Bay Beach Resort and treasurer on the executive board of the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association. Until that time there is a transition period: “I think we will see a gradual reopening of accommodations.” By Hilbert Haar Like many other projects, the Oyster Bay Beach Resort has also sustained serious damages. Overall, the situation is bad, Perez says. “Ninety…
Author: The Publisher
The fact that airlines are allowing people to book tickets although the green light has not been given by the St. Maarten government to execute commercial flights show how popular and in demand St. Maarten is as a tourist destination. Airlines are always threatening to pull out of St. Maarten citing lagging sales and bookings as an excuse to force the government and tourism stakeholders to fork over seat guarantees and other marketing incentives to continue servicing the destination with their flights. Now renowned airlines such as KLM and American Airlines are succumbing to the apparently insatiable demand by customers…
GREAT BAY – Port St. Maarten Management understands the importance of the cruise sector to the national economy, and is working diligently with the cruise lines and local stakeholders to have the first commercial cruise ship with passengers in port by November 11 – St. Maarten Day. Discussions are currently underway with a number of cruise lines with respect to itinerary planning for November. In order for this to happen, a number of links in the chain of offering a good cruise experience needs to be in place such as shore-excursions, tours, shopping (Philipsburg), restaurants and other amenities. Port Management…
GREAT BAY – The Cooperating Foundations for the Caribbean of the Dutch Kingdom donate an amount of Euro 500,000 for emergency relief to the Red Cross for the by hurricane Irma affected Dutch Caribbean islands St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius. The funding organizations watched the devastation that Irma caused with horror. There is no option of sitting back and wait as in these circumstances currently funded Caribbean social initiatives financed by Cooperating Foundations cannot continue and proceed with their current important work. Because the Cooperating Foundations do not have the infrastructure for emergency relief help, they decided to make this amount available…
GREAT BAY — Minister of Economic Affairs Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher on Thursday said inspectors of the Economic Control Department has issued stern warnings to businesses caught price gouging in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria. The Minister also disclosed that business was caught selling items with no prices on the goods and some businesses were refusing to provide receipts. The law dictates that if these practices are found, the business in question would get a stern warning and has to correct the violations on the spot. Repeat offenders will be heavily fined. Supermarkets, tire repair shops, hardware stores and general…
POND ISLAND — In a press statement released yesterday on behalf of the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) wherein the President, Alston Lourens, was quoted as saying that the SCDF fully intends to host the 2018 Carnival festival, mention was also made about talk of the Festival Village being used as a place to house displaced persons after hurricane Irma. Lourens was quoted as saying he is concerned about this approach and how it might affect the festival in April 2018. Apparently, the talk is about creating a Emergency Container Village to house homeless persons who are presently without…
GREAT BAY – President of the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) Alston Lourens has stated that the foundation fully intends to host Carnival 2018. He recalled that Carnival 1996 is fondly remembered as one of the best ever following Hurricane Luis and the foundation is determined to repeat that feat after hurricane Irma. The board of the foundation has already met to assess the situation and will continue to organize the event in collaboration with its stakeholders. Eight booths in the Carnival Village have been destroyed but the board says it will discuss plans moving forward with the relevant…
Great Bay — Almost anyone or any group of people can remove excess waste that washed up along the shoreline in Philipsburg, but removing a 75-ton pontoon, that washed up on to the boardwalk, requires a special group of persons who are experienced in that particular field. Sometime during the early hours of Wednesday, September 6th, a pontoon, property of Bobby’s Marina miraculously made its way across the Boardwalk. Had it not been for the BVLGARI Jewel Store which was directly in its path, it could have ended up elsewhere with the possibility of causing severe structural damages. (See photo…
SXM Airport — The Spirit Airlines flight NK 8080 landed yesterday at Princess Juliana International SXM Airport as promised. The free relief flight, courtesy of the management of the Florida-based airline company, did two things today. It brought back home a group of St. Maarteners who were stranded in the United States and it took away passengers that were more than eager to capitalize on the free trip out of St. Maarten. While it remains unclear what the exact seating capacity was, from the number of persons that were seen at the entrance of the available point of entry at…
PHILIPSBURG — Minister responsible for Aviation Affairs Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher has re-iterated that no official date has been announced by government for the resumption of commercial flights into St. Maarten. The Minister stressed that travelers need to be careful with any information unless it comes from the official source, in other words, the government of St. Maarten. She said there is some confusion being created by, among other things, airlines announcing dates that they hope to resume service to the island. In some cases, airlines are allowing people to book tickets although the green light has not been given by government…
