There was some good news to report about the tourism economy over the Ascension Day holiday, with the Port of St. Maarten again earning an important cruise distinction.
Winair also officially opened its completely rebuilt office, solidifying the local carrier’s continued role in promoting the destination as hub for travel within the region. The same can be said about its “Caribsky” alliance with Air Antilles and LIAT, although care must be taken to prevent any – for example – financial problems of one partner from affecting the other.
Of course, the timely full restoration of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) is also key in this matter, as are efforts to get back US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category 1 status. And while plans for US pre-clearance are not part of the terminal reconstruction project to be financed with a grant from the Dutch-sponsored Trust Fund and loan from the European Development Bank (EDB) for US $50 million each, Parliament was recently informed that realising such a provision is still very much on the table.
Stayover arrivals during the first three months of this year more than doubled compared to early 2018. For all of 2019 an increase of 118 per cent is projected.
Port St. Maarten has also been chosen as “Best Cruise Port” by Caribbean Journal readers. With 1.7 million plus passengers expected to call on the island aboard ships in 2019, for an 11.4 per cent hike compared to last year, this part of the local hospitality industry remains a major success story.
The country’s economy in general continues to rebound with numbers in the first quarter up considerably compared to last year, although still not at pre-Hurricane Irma levels. The gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to grow by seven per cent in 2019.
Another strong “bouncing back” indicator is the export of goods and services (including tourism) being foreseen to expand by 39.6 per cent this year and imports by only 7.2 per cent. These are undoubtedly encouraging developments.
