Two reports in today’s paper inspire hope for the future of the local hospitality industry. One is that the Dutch and French sides of the island have teamed up with Anguilla to increase their presence in the growing South American market. The latter already has produced some positive numbers, as is also obvious from the rising occupancy on connecting flights from Panama by Copa Airlines, but more obviously can be done. Other Caribbean countries are spending larger amounts on promotion to attract stay-over guests from the mainland and particularly economic powerhouse Brazil. By combining forces on the “The Best of the Caribbean” campaign in Portuguese and Spanish, the three destinations make better use of their limited means and thus improve efficiency. As pointed out before, travel from South America is also less seasonal than the traditional US and Canada market, not in the last place because winter there is June through September, which can be beneficial in terms of year-round business, non-temporary employment and thus social stability. The second bit of good news is that St. Maarten is among destinations that affluent Americans will visit, according to a new marketing report. It regards a national survey among 1,250 travellers with an annual household income totalling at least US $125,000, of whom half are interested in coming to the Caribbean. Regarding their specific destination of choice, St. Maarten tied with the Cayman Islands and Aruba at 23 per cent, surpassed only by the US Virgin Islands (27) and the Bahamas (25). Just as interesting is that 50 per cent said they were willing to pay more for the very best quality hotel/resort accommodations. These findings are important because one often hears that with its dominating timeshare sector, the Dutch side has opted for mass tourism and consequently not for well-off travellers. The survey shows that the two can go hand-in-hand and don’t have to exclude one another. Nevertheless, investing to enhance properties as is now taking place at Maho remains a necessity in the long run, to keep the product attractive for this group. The potential is obviously there.
