Hans van de Velde, CEO of Winair and seasoned tourism expert.
PHILIPSBURG--As St. Maarten faces increasing competition from islands like St. Kitts, Dominica, Antigua, Aruba, and Curaçao – each investing heavily in tourism infrastructure – the island is struggling to maintain its standing as a key travel hub. According to travel expert Hans van de Velde, Chief Executive Officer of Winair, St. Maarten’s limited success in attracting new European airlines is largely due to its lack of high-profile hotel brands.
“St Maarten has great connections to France and The Netherlands. We should ask ourselves the question how we can attract more passengers from Europe, specifically the UK and Germany. Re-establish a RIU hotel for example or bring in another globally recognized hotel chain, and TUI, along with other major airlines, will be eager to invest here,” says Van de Velde, referring to the former RIU Palace, now called Secrets St. Martin Resort & Spa, located in Anse Marcel. The resort has remained closed since May 2024 following numerous guest complaints about poorly renovated facilities after the takeover of the ruins of the RIU Palace, which was severely damaged by Hurricane Irma on September 6, 2017. The reopening date for Secrets Resort is currently unknown.
Van de Velde emphasises that a well-known hotel brand would signal St. Maarten’s commitment to tourism, helping attract both airlines and a steady flow of visitors back to the island.
Before taking on his role as Chief Executive Officer at Winair in July 2023, Van de Velde spent eighteen years in senior positions with the TUI Group, including as Managing Director of TUI France and General Manager of TUI Maroc. Headquartered in Germany, TUI is one of the world’s leading tourism companies, serving 19 million customers globally and managing a range of travel services under one roof. Its portfolio includes over 400 hotels under brands such as RIU, TUI Blue, and Robinson, along with 17 cruise ships, five airlines, and around 1,200 travel agencies across Europe.
Van de Velde is confident that a prominent hotel brand would make St. Maarten a more attractive market for TUI. “If we have a high-profile hotel brand, TUI and other major players will see value in increasing their presence here,” he says, underscoring the potential impact a RIU or similar brand could have on the island’s tourism sector.
Van de Velde stresses that St. Maarten needs to reassess its hotel infrastructure to attract more tourists. He cites Cape Verde as a striking real-world example of how recognised hotels can drive tourism. “Cape Verde is located off the coast of West Africa, just a few hours’ flight from Europe. The islands offer sun, sea, and sand year-round, but twenty years ago, they were virtually unknown as a tourist destination. That changed when European hoteliers decided to set up well-known hotels there. These hotels offered package deals to airlines, and airlift followed. Today, Cape Verde is one of the busiest tourist destinations.”
Vacationers rarely book a hotel they’re unfamiliar with, explains Van de Velde. “The reality is that a large part of the world’s population has never flown before, and those who do typically travel only once or twice a year. For many, such a trip is thrilling but also a little intimidating, and when booking a holiday, travellers often seek familiarity and recognition.”
European vacationers flocked to St. Maarten between 2012 and 2016 largely due to the presence of a RIU hotel. “Vacationers don’t choose an airline; they choose a destination and a
hotel,” says Van de Velde. “If you want to attract Belgian, German and UK tourists to St. Maarten, you need a RIU hotel. For more French tourists, you’d want a hotel from the Accor Group.”
Accor S.A., a major French hospitality company, is the largest in Europe and operates over 5,500 locations worldwide. It covers a wide range of brands from luxury (Raffles, Fairmont, Sofitel) to economy (Ibis, hotelF1).
Few small Caribbean islands receive direct scheduled flights from Europe, with the exceptions of Barbados and the British Virgin Islands (British Airways) and the ABC islands (KLM and Corendon). However, several small islands have invested in creating, expanding, and improving their national airports with runways suitable for large carriers. Destinations like Antigua, St Kitts and Saint Lucia have succeeded to attract large European (leisure) airlines like TUI and Condor, serving exactly these markets of the UK and Germany. Currently, St Maarten is completely unknown in the UK, whereas we offer an experience that is much broader than the neighboring islands.
According to Van de Velde, expanding hotel rooms alone won’t attract more major airlines to St. Maarten. “Airbnb is often included in the numbers, but it doesn’t create visitor volume. To build volume, you need 3-star, 4-star, and 5-star hotels.”
TUI stopped flights to St. Maarten after Hurricane Irma in September 2017. “This wasn’t due to the hurricane itself but the aftermath, specifically the loss of the RIU hotel,” Van de Velde explains.
The St. Maarten Tourism Bureau is aiming to diversify its tourism offerings. However, Van de Velde cautions, “I live in Pelican Key, where I’d estimate half the houses are Airbnb rentals that may be occupied one weekend a month. That doesn’t generate significant impact. An international airline will only commit to St. Maarten if there’s substantial passenger volume.”
“The math is simple,” Van de Velde concludes. “With a 450-room hotel at an 80% occupancy rate and an average of 2.2 people per room, that’s 400 arrivals weekly—enough to fill a Boeing. This volume would justify additional flights from KLM or TUI, possibly combined with Curaçao flights. Increased airlift creates further demand, adding travellers for smaller accommodations and Airbnb as well.”
While Van de Velde supports having major beach-front hotels on the island, he stresses that a healthy mix of accommodation types is essential, with both large resorts and smaller accommodations. Additionally, he sees a critical role for regional airlines like Winair, Air Antilles and Air Caraïbes, which provide inter-island connections. However, he points out that these smaller carriers alone can’t drive economic growth.
Operating small planes is costly. As a result, a flight from St. Maarten to Curaçao is nearly as expensive as a flight from Amsterdam to Curaçao with Corendon, said Van de Velde. “You wonder why that is. It’s because Corendon flies with 450 passengers on board. We, on the other hand, have space for 50 passengers and then hope to fill 35 seats.”
The reality is that smaller planes cost more per passenger than larger ones, he adds. “That can be frustrating at times. If we had 200 passengers flying daily to Curaçao, the ticket price would likely be half of what it is now.”
A high demand for flights to destinations like Curaçao simply isn’t there, and inter-island travel is further restricted due to protectionism on routes between islands, said Van de Velde. “For example, as a national airline, we can’t fly between French islands without France’s permission, which restricts our ability to serve more routes.”
One potential solution, he explains, is interlining – collaborations with major airlines that bring tourists to St. Maarten and connect them with regional carriers like Winair for onward travel to islands such as St. Barthelemy and others nearby.
The bottom line, Van de Velde explained, is that when there are a few large, well-known hotels, airlift is created, benefiting smaller accommodations and national carriers like Winair in St.
Maarten and Air Caribes and Air Antilles in Saint Martin. “With robust airlift, smaller hotels can thrive alongside the larger hotels, and regional airlines benefit as well in their roles as regional carriers,” he concluded.
