An earlier edition of SMART.
PHILIPSBURG--All is set for the grand opening of the seventeenth edition of the St. Maarten/St. Martin Annual Regional Tradeshow (SMART) which runs from today, Monday, March 31, to Friday, April 4, at Simpson Bay Resort and Marina.
Coordinators said many tourism players from the island, the region and the world had been setting up their booths at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort Casino and Spa.
The 17th edition will mark a 25-year tradition of the event being held. Over time, SMART has grown into the largest tourism trade show of the northeastern Caribbean. The event provides space for local businesses to meet, introduce themselves to foreign and domestic representatives of the main economic pillar of tourism, and create mutual opportunities from there.
The four driving forces behind the event have historically been St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA), St. Maarten Tourism Bureau, l’Office de Tourisme de Saint-Martin and Club du Tourisme, making SMART the longest-running binational event production of the island.
As it seems, SMART2025 will hold the largest buyer and walk-around delegations of the series to date. All “supplier” and “vendor” booths have been filled this year also. SMART2025 delegates will come from Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Argentina, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Colombia, Curaçao, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, the Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Puerto Rico, Saba, Spain, Statia, St. Barths, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, St. Martin, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.
As with every edition, the public-private cooperation is supported in many ways by the private sector. Many partners support the event, including Anguilla and Saba, which both support the event too with a brand-new fifth “meet the neighbors day”.
