Today’s news that the US will possibly expand its airport pre-clearance programme to St. Maarten (see related story) is obviously most welcome. Aruba benefitted greatly from a similar arrangement and some suggest it may even have assisted to a certain extent in offsetting the negative impact from that island’s two famous female disappearance cases involving Natalee Holloway and Robyn Gardner.
Already there have been comments that implementing the system at Princess Juliana International Airport SXM will probably take a lot of work and money. However, considering the dominance of the American tourism market on the island, it in any case seems like a worthwhile endeavour.
The Department of Homeland Security’s stated goal to reduce delays and help passengers make connecting flights could work out in everybody’s favour, turning travel to and from US airports into a smoother and less cumbersome experience. As such, this can only be seen as a major breakthrough opportunity to boost the hospitality sector that drives the local economy.
Consequently, no time or effort should be spared to actually make it happen.
