St. Maarten being considered code yellow instead of orange by Dutch authorities (see related story) is good news. This allows for leisure and not only essential travel. It was certainly deserved, as Curaçao has remained and Aruba recently became yellow while their COVID-19 numbers are respectively higher and similar.
Visitors returning to the Netherlands from all three islands are currently no longer required to quarantine at home for 10 days. In addition, plans for a compulsory negative test result on arrival at Schiphol Airport in January will not apply to them.
While St. Maarten does not get as many European Dutch tourists as the two other destinations, it could still benefit from this development. That is mainly because the Caribbean part of the kingdom is just about the only place people in the Netherlands are not strongly discouraged to go during the coming months.
It would make sense to try to use the opportunity to attract more of them; for example, with vacation packages in conjunction with KLM/Air France and local resorts. Perhaps TUI might even be convinced to start flying into Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) again.
The re-categorisation also sends an important message abroad confirming “The Friendly Island” as a relatively low coronavirus-risk choice for a holiday. However, that can quickly change should there be a significant new outbreak or wave.
Residents therefore need to understand that complying with related rules is not just to protect themselves and others, but also to safeguard the people’s very livelihood. The latter is now finally and gradually being restored.
Messing up in that regard is simply not an option.
