St. Maarten going from Travel Notice Level 4 to 3 of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC (see related story) is encouraging. Although the difference between advising against all travel and avoiding – only – the nonessential kind is not that large, every little bit helps.
An average room occupancy of more than 70 per cent as of February (see Tuesday paper) shows that the destination being in the highest COVID-19 risk category apparently did not stop a lot of visitors from coming, considering that the vast majority is always from North America. Nevertheless, this latest development could help bring more also after the traditional winter high season ends.
The latter is always important especially for year-round employment, but certainly after two years of coronavirus-related crisis, with the economy just starting to recover. Normally the dominant local hospitality sector industry during the current busy period creates reserves for the relatively quiet Atlantic hurricane season. However, many businesses, single entrepreneurs and independent operators have barely managed to keep their heads above water these past months.
As pointed out by Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Roger Lawrence in today’s edition, activities like the St. Maarten Innovation, Initiative and Industries Link-up Event (SMILE) at the end of next week, the return of Carnival in April, a big international Rotary gathering in May and the St. Maarten Annual Regional Tradeshow (SMART) in June can make a significant positive impact in that regard.
What could also contribute is attracting guests from strong summer source markets such as the Netherlands, where snow-skiing trips in winter are popular and those who can afford such often use summers for their sun, sea and sand vacations, whether in Southern Europe or elsewhere. That will require some promotion and enhanced airlift, but can be considered alternative diversification within the dominant tourism field.
