PHILIPSBURG:--- St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA) has started distribution of Marketing Material for its Dollar-A-Day program, as part of plans to "re-energize" the program with a concerted effort on marketing to increase awareness.
Several hotels have received an electronic display screen that showcases the many activities funded by the Dollar-A-Day program along with training material and informational flyers and handouts for hotel guests. The Dollar-A-Day program or DAD which started in 2000, is a community development program started from the SHTA through which the association identifies social, and educational projects which they can contribute to using funds raised by hotels whose guests give a voluntary donation of a dollar for each night stay at their property.
The twelve participating hotels are Carl's Unique Inn, Coral Beach Club, Divi Little Bay Beach Resort, L'Esperance Hotel Suites, La Vista Resort, Oyster Bay Beach Resort, Princess Heights, Royal Islander Club (La Plage and La Terrace), Sonesta Great Bay Resort, Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, the Horney Toad Guest House and Turquoise Shell Inn. Executive Director for the SHTA Alfred Harley said the program's success depends entirely on the hotels whose Front Desk staff and Management are the ones explaining to guests what the DAD program does and why they should contribute.
He said the program also has a direct benefit for the hotel employees. In the past twelve months over 180 of hotel staff received specialized training following the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) professional certification curriculum. The DAD is also used to assist the unemployed on the island through the DIRPIE program which is an initiative by St. Maarten Government to assist unemployed persons within the community with job training programs and paid part time work.
"We see how excited the many people who received training are, and how their confidence level increases drastically and so we want to be able to have more training done, and perhaps expand it to include restaurants as well," said Harley. While much of the funds are budgeted strictly for Educational and Social Development programs, a portion is also used to encourage airlifts to St. Maarten which is necessary for the continued growth and development of the island's economy and job creation.
