MARIGOT--Grand Case Beach Club lost 200 room nights at a cost of some US $80,000 through cancellations or no-shows because of the recent French-side protests and roadblocks, French-side hoteliers association AHSM Vice-President Jean-François Billot said.
It included guests who had booked for a week but could not get to Grand Case and checked into Simpson Bay Resort instead.
On a positive note, however, bookings for the hotel remain unaffected for the remainder of the season, providing, Billot cautioned, there is no resurgence of the protests to the scale of disruption that occurred recently. Grand Case Beach Club had just completed a major renovation after the destruction wrought by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Club Fantastico in Orient Bay reported that two of its departing guests had to take a boat to reach Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) during the protests, otherwise the naturist resort only had two cancellations.
Billot told The Daily Herald all hotels and restaurants had been impacted by the troubles at a crucial period of the season for doing business. Even Hotel Mercure in Baie Nettle, which remained accessible from the Lowlands border, lost bookings.
He said there is resentment that taxi drivers, among other stakeholders on the Dutch side, are advising their clients not to go the French side. Even on December 24, when protests had already ceased, one prominent hotel on the Dutch side advised its guests not to venture onto the French side.
“The situation has improved somewhat with taxi drivers starting again to bring tourists to Orient Beach now that the road is open at Belle Plaine,” said Billot. “For the hotels, it’s over. We took a hit and now we must move on. But restaurants are still suffering, doing only a quarter of the 50 per cent of business they were doing before.”
Despite Grand Case being open for business and accessible, newly opened Ocean 82 on the Boulevard’s waterfront is still receiving negative feedback about the state of the French side. Ocean 82 took two years to renovate the restaurant and reopened 20 days before the protests started on December 12.
“Even though Grand Case was not too affected by the protests, we are stuck in the middle between French Quarter and Sandy Ground and nobody could get to us, so we had to close for a week,” said Ocean 82’s owner. “We are still getting cancellations because people believe what the taxi drivers are telling them – that the French side is not secure. But everything is normal here in Grand Case.”
Billot believes tourism will recover: “Apart from that travel advisory from the US Embassy in Barbados, I am not hearing anything untoward from travel agents and wholesalers in the USA or in the international media. No one is talking about it. I’m not worried about the French side’s ability to recover if it [protests – Ed.] doesn’t start again. But we have to be vigilant.”
Of greater concern to Billot is the delay in the reconstruction of the PJIA terminal, which he says is a greater hindrance to tourism prosperity for both sides of the island.
“When are they going to start?” he questioned. “It’s now two years that have passed. Already there are 50 per cent less flights. So, the airport will reopen at the end of 2022? By that time Anguilla will have a new runway, and St. Kitts is developing all the time. Beyond what’s happening on the French side with zoning, the airport is the main challenge for all of us. This is a dangerous game being played.”
As for the natural risk prevention plan PPRN, he said he and many businesspeople support the population’s protest against the State’s version of it, but are angered by its timing. He’s confident that the modifying of the PPRN under the direction of former Sous-Préfet Dominque Lacroix in January will resolve the issue.
“The protest is justified, but we are very angry at France because of the timing. It wanted to arbitrarily rush the plan through to implement it before the end of the year without realising the backlash and consequences it would cause with the local people. It was a powder-keg ready to explode and it did, just at the start of the season.”
Meanwhile, it was business as usual in Marigot with shops and restaurants open again.
“I fear that Marigot will start to lose its attractive ambience,” said Marigot Merchants Association ACSM President Yann Lecam, whose shop was very close to one of the barricades and fires on Rue St. James, close to the marina. He had to close for a week.
“It’s 10 years now that the economy in Marigot has been struggling,” he said. “It seems that every time we advance, we get knocked down again. Every year we are doing 10 per cent less than the year before. Shops are not making what they ought to be making. Traditionally the Christmas period accounts for 30 per cent of the whole year’s business.”
Lecam did not cancel the Christmas Fair event in Marigot, but he described it as “sad”.
No one knows the situation in Marigot better than Indian Merchants Association AISM President Peter Sadaranghani, who has been running his businesses in the town for 30 years. Introduction of the euro in 2002, the recession of 2008, and dependence on a social welfare system that is regularly abused are among contributors to the decline in the economy he cites, as well as adhering to regulations that make some items, cigarettes for example, cheaper to buy on the Dutch side.
“What we were famous for before, a shopping destination, packed restaurants on the marina, has slowly been going up in smoke. We are not competitive anymore,” he admitted with resignation.
“Seeing these changes over 30 years makes me wonder what is next and that is the scary part, not knowing if Marigot can pick itself up and be the shining star it was before. But it’s still a beautiful place and there so many people who understand tourism is our backbone. We must adapt, and everybody must play their part. I believe tourism will bounce back. I hope tourists understand and know that we are still a Friendly Island.”
Sadaranghani understands and supports the local population over the PPRN dispute.
“The protests were justified. As a small island we don’t have thousands of acres of land available to move inland to. So, coming out with authoritative decisions on where you can and can’t build, and at the same time make exceptions to that for other communities, that’s bound to stoke anger. The State is responsible for security of the population, yes, but the plan should not have been presented in such a one-sided manner.”
