According to government, St. Maarten’s room inventory should be back to near 70 per cent of what it was prior to Hurricane Irma at the end of the first quarter (see related story). Considering how hard the superstorm hit many local resorts and wiped out or damaged 80 per cent of the rooms just 16 months ago, that seems reasonable.
However, at this moment – during the height of the tourism season – only 1,784 units are available, 45 per cent of the 4,000 that were on the market before September 6, 2017. In addition, the projections show this number will increase to 2,418 by April, which is in fact more like 62 per cent.
It’s not that simple, of course, but to understand what that means readers can imagine a person who made US $1,000 per month having to do with $450 and hopefully $610 come March. The 50th anniversary Carnival celebration should attract quite a few guests of its own mainly from the region, after which a relatively slow period starts again.
The room figures provided do not include villas, condos and other properties offered via vacation rental companies on- and off-island. These could help mitigate the lack of visitor accommodations especially at very busy times such as the Heineken Regatta.
But for now, it’s safe to say the Dutch side’s dominant stayover tourism sector is operating at about half capacity. The cruise ship business is already doing considerably better, but in general the hospitality industry on which the livelihood of practically all residents ultimately depends still has a long way to go.
Correction
Thursday’s editorial incorrectly suggested current Minister of Tourism. Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Stuart Johnson was somehow responsible for the “50 Years of Carnival” slogan on the new vehicle number plates. That decision was reportedly taken by a former government he was not part of. The author apologises for this error and any inconvenience it may have caused.
