Great Bay:--- St. Maarten Small Properties Association Executive Board meet with the Director of Tourism Mr. Edward Dest and Ms Betty Jean -Baptiste of the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau to establish an amicable and future working relationship. The Association discussed future joint efforts between both organizations.
'Our aim is to establish a long lasting partnership with the private and public sectors on St. Maarten. By having this meeting today, we just covered one of our initial objectives. We would like to thank Mr. Dest and Ms. Jean- Baptiste for a very informative meeting and for their pledge of support during this initial year of existence".
"The St. Maarten Small Properties Association objective was establish through joint efforts of the Government of St. Maarten, The St. Maarten Chamber and the association members to provide the best possible networking and industry forum for its members, to assist them with improving the standards and quality of goods and services to be offered by particularly the small properties stated Ms. Nzinga Lake, President of S.S.P.A.
The Director of Tourism, Mr. Dest informed the Association Executive Board how they can provide their members with opportunities to market their products more effectively to both the Caribbean and the international tourism marketplaces and how S.S.P.A. can promote their members by advertising and promotions.
"In the near future, we would like to be members of Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) and various key organizations on St. Maarten and abroad. As a member, our Association can benefit by meeting and networking with Caribbean tourism's top executives and policy makers including: Ministers, Commissioners and Directors of Tourism, Leading executives and trend influencers from tour operators, hotels, media, airlines, cruise lines, and travel companies and showcase our products and services at targeted events". added Ms. Lake.
"Last month, S.S.P.A. Executive Board also had the opportunity to meet with the President of the St. Maarten Carnival Foundation, Mr. Michael Granger, the board discussed the positive effect that Carnival has on our occupancy rates of the small properties and agreed to meet to further discuss means and ways how both organizations can partner together to market our small hoteliers regionally, internationally and the destination for the upcoming 45th Carnival Celebrations," said Ms. Lake.