There are various positive developments regarding the revival of the local tourism economy, but also a few not-so-good ones. Pictures in today’s paper of vendors on Maho Beach obviously fall under the latter category.
Mind you, such harassment of visitors is nothing new, but in the present circumstances perhaps more undesirable than ever. Readers might even question publishing the photos, as this could discourage other potential guests, but it’s important to create awareness so Government and law enforcement authorities are prompted to take appropriate action.
It’s hard not to sympathise a bit with persons trying to make a buck in this rather primitive manner, especially because some can actually be quite discreet, but ultimately the general interest must prevail. These probably-unlicensed roaming vendors need to be tackled to prevent placing the destination already struggling to recover in a bad light.
The suggestion is not necessarily to lock them up, although illegal residents among them could be deported, but to get and keep them from peddling their wares on the streets and beaches. That the problem is real may be further deduced from a recent letter by a representative of the cruise industry (see related story).
Better news includes Port St. Maarten being on the cover of Travel & Cruise magazine featured at last week’s Seatrade Convention in Fort Lauderdale, Copa Airlines announcing the resumption of flights from Panama starting June 2 during the ANATO South American tradeshow in Colombia and even the Yoda Guy Movie Exhibit on Front Street getting attention on BBC and Wikipedia.
However, in addition to building on what’s right, being truly successful takes addressing what’s wrong.
