PHILIPSBURG:--- Globally recognized and leading Travel Booking Websites TripAdvisor and Expedia led a full-day workshop on global market trends attended by some of the Island’s travel and tourism private sector, in St. Maarten on August 27.
This event was organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport, & Telecommunication TEATT and led by the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau. During the workshop, the Travel Companies presented the latest market trends and new opportunities to position St. Maarten’s tourism products and services in North America.
Minister of TEATT the Honorable Stuart Johnson gave the opening remarks and welcomed the attendees. Johnson said on Sunday that these initiatives continue to yield significant fruit in attracting new visitors and securing the return of our longtime vacationers.
He said St. Maarten will take full advantage of opportunities to collaborate with its international partners on destination marketing initiatives “as we continue to position our island as the number one travel destination.”
The discussions and presentations were led by Carol Johnson, TripAdvisor’s Senior Destination Marketing Manager and Ana Medina, Expedia’s Business Development Manager for the Caribbean region. In addition to presenting the latest trends and new opportunities, Ms. Johnson and Ms. Medina also reviewed the campaigns that St. Maarten ran with their respective platforms in 2016, 2017, and 2019.
St. Maarten recently launched an extensive marketing campaign with TripAdvisor and Expedia in the USA that aims to get the message across to consumers that the island is open for business, show the diversity of the St. Maarten’s product offering, and drive bookings to the destination. The campaigns will run through December 31, 2019.
The U.S. is St. Maarten’s top source market. Between January and June of this year, St. Maarten welcomed 92,285 visitors from the U.S., a steady increase over the 67,533 Americans that visited the island during the same period in 2018, showing strong recovery from the hurricanes.
“We are committed to having both public and private sectors work closely together in marketing St. Maarten as a leading Caribbean destination and to helping the private sector find new opportunities to further develop the island’s tourism industry,” said St. Maarten’s Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic & Telecommunication, Stuart Johnson.
For her part, May-Ling Chun, St. Maarten’s Director of Tourism said: “We are working in close cooperation with all of our industry partners to ensure the strong and sustainable recovery of the tourism sector on the island and look forward to creating more opportunities for local partners to promote our island’s diverse tourism products.”
About St. Maarten Tourist Bureau: St. Maarten is the smallest island in the world to be shared by two nations – Kingdom of the Netherlands and France – creating a destination with European charm and Caribbean flair. Located at the northern end of the Lesser Antilles, the island’s 37 square miles has 37 breathtaking beaches and is home to many historical and family-oriented attractions. Direct air service is available to Princess Juliana International Airport from major U.S. and Canadian cities.
For additional information, visit the official site of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau at www.vacationstmaarten.com.
