It was encouraging to hear Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Ludmila de Weever reveal during Wednesday’s press briefing that they are studying alternatives to the current requirement of a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within 72 hours before departure for incoming travellers. This is proving a big hurdle due to testing backlogs in certain areas of the US but also Europe, including the Netherlands.
The thinking is to make the maximum term five instead of three days, but health experts would have to agree. This could be combined with a second test seven days after arrival as is done on the French side, lack of which was mentioned at the time as a reason for the border closure.
She said capacity for such would have to be created at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), where currently only passengers without the correct PCR result and those showing a high temperature or other flu-like symptoms are tested. Other options may include saliva or so-called “rapid” testing that has reportedly improved in reliability.
While some may find even talking about this matter inappropriate with still rising COVID-19 numbers, governing is looking ahead. It seems clear that the tourism economy will not fully recover for a while, but that should not stop the destination from making the best of it, because when it comes to “heads in bed” every single one counts and means much-needed earnings for the island.
In fact, aggressive promotion and marketing with whatever funds can still be made available are strongly advisable, also because various popular vacation spots around the world are still considered off-limits to citizens of many countries. Under circumstances like these, a high degree of visibility can make all the difference in the world.
