A story on the St. Maarten/St. Martin Annual Regional Tradeshow (SMART) in Monday’s newspaper was encouraging. Hailed as a “triumphant return,” the event boasted participation by travel agents from 23 nations and 110 vendors, both local and international.
Given the four-year hiatus since pre-pandemic 2019, these numbers are indeed impressive. More importantly, according to reports quite a bit of networking and even some business was done.
Of great interest is the Central American attendance, considering the direct flights with Copa Airlines from its hub in Panama. Marketing the sun, sand and sea destination during so-called “green” rainy seasons in that area seems like a winner.
As it regards mostly the summer and early fall months, such a strategy could help the local tourism economy survive traditionally slower periods. This has several added benefits in terms of employment and social stability.
The proximity to Panama City of Costa Rica and Nicaragua make them an easier sell than, for example, South America. However, that does not mean the latter continent with so much potential especially in summer should be forgotten.
In fact, with various Colombian carriers servicing the Caribbean, attracting airlift from that country should not be very difficult. Doing so would facilitate targeting surrounding neighbours as well.
In a similar way, the first-time presence of Mexican buyers is a promising development too, particularly as they were accompanied by representatives of Copa. Suffice to say that the wider region still offers significant opportunity.
Following the “Twice the Caribbean Twice the Summer” campaign announced earlier this month, it appears SMART may have an immediate and hopefully lasting positive impact. Such efforts remain essential to solidify “The Friendly Island” as leading vacation spot, also because competitors are hardly sitting still.
In other words: keep it up.
