Few would oppose the decision to grant St. Maarten Small Properties Association (SMSPA) a subsidy of 40,000 Antillean guilders (see Tuesday paper). After all, several of its members were among the first visitor accommodations to open their doors following the devastating passage of Hurricane Irma and subsequent widespread looting.
As usual, they also received many guests particularly from the region during the recent Carnival period and helped bring a bit of badly-needed business to the island. In addition, with most large resorts having switched to timeshare or the all-inclusive concept over the years, the share of smaller properties in the regular hotel rooms inventory must not be underestimated.
Lack of or insufficient insurance are reportedly common problems in this sector. The amount given to SMSPA obviously doesn’t suffice to address individual cases but will rather be used for marketing and attracting more guests.
So far so good, but there is little information yet on what will happen with some of the bigger hospitality industry players like Westin, Royal Palm, Flamingo, Sapphire Wyndham, etc. that remain closed. The Maho Group contracted a US $57.5 million loan to “build back better” its badly damaged Sonesta Maho Beach and Ocean Point resorts, but there was no further word on its other properties Royal Islander, La Terrace, Blue Marina, etc. that also house visitors.
Canadian Sunwing as the new owner of Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort had asked for – among other things – US $43 million from the Trust Fund to realise its reconstruction and expansion plans. Nothing more was heard about that either.
A recent statement by the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau (STB) that 2,145 rooms or 54 per cent) of the Dutch side’s inventory will be available again by the end of the year certainly sounds encouraging. However, these projections based on a first quarter of 2018 survey may still change considerably.
While the (partial) reopening of, for example, Atrium, La Vista, Belair, Divi Little Bay, Princess Heights and soon Oyster Bay is very much appreciated, clarity on some of the others is essential to give the public at least an idea how fast and to what extent the local tourism economy will be able to recover.
