PJIA and St. Maarten Tourist Bureau representatives met with representatives of KLM Airline.
PHILIPSBURG--A delegation from the St. Maarten tourism sector travelled to Las Vegas in the second week of October 2022 to attend Routes World, the premier airlift and planning event. St. Maarten was presented as a travel hub during the three-day conference.
The delegation, a collaboration of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) and St. Maarten Tourism Bureau, aimed to promote the destination of St. Maarten and restore its existing airline network.
Bringing together a range of airlines, airports and tourism authorities, including some of the largest carriers from North, Central and Latin America, Routes World offers the opportunity to meet face-to-face with some of the most influential aviation professionals from across the globe.
The St. Maarten delegation met with numerous airline network planners, including Air Canada, American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, KLM, British Airways, JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Sun Country, LATAM, Avianca, Spirit Airlines, Breeze, and Flair Airlines, to discuss existing service, as well as new route opportunities.
Most of the airlines said that they are still in recovery mode since the COVID-19 pandemic, while still faced with crew shortages, the St. Maarten delegation noted. “The outlook, however, is positive, with increases and the possibility for new routes being explored for Winter 2023-2025.”
For the year 2022, St. Maarten visitor numbers are estimated to finish 90-95% recovery compared to 2019, as there are some down movements due to the crew shortages.
St. Maarten Tourism Bureau, in its updates, stressed the important role it plays in supporting and attracting new airlifts, increasing seat capacity to the destination and opening new markets.
Director of Tourism May-Ling Chun reiterated that some of the key marketing strategies for the destination remain the repositioning of the destination by targeting a more discerning and higher-spending tourist, diversification of the market, further extending the high season, expounding on competitive and convenient airlift services which play a critical role in further developing existing source markets and the opening of new potential markets within the region and globally.
“We are very pleased with the meetings that were held with the airlines,” Chun said. “These have opened up communication with new potential ones, and also strengthened the existing ones for us to further develop our airlift to the destination and establish year- round visitors to St. Maarten.”
In addition, the delegation met with other destination and airport representatives. “In the bigger picture our unique selling point is our product, as a hub, and the surrounding islands served by our national carrier, WINAIR,” explained PJIA Chief Executive Officer Brian Mingo. “This we need to capitalise on, to attract more airlifts, yet keep it in the boutique segment. … Having a great airlift programme will reassure a greater recovery for our future and help prepare us to reopen with excellence.”
