Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) announced its attendance at Routes Americas 2026 (see Wednesday edition) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They presented what was called a renewed strategy aimed at strengthening the airport’s global position, with a particular focus on expanding into the South American market.
That will be music to the ears of many in the local hospitality industry concerned about the reliance on dominant US, Canada, France and the Netherlands source markets. Together, these four countries account for 89.1% of the total, according to recent 2025 air arrival figures from the Department of Statistics Stat.
PJIA mentioned an 118% increase in South American visitors since 2017, primarily from Colombia and Brazil. Once the situation in Venezuela has normalised, it can likely be added to that list.
Stat’s release of last year’s air arrivals listed 25,848 from Central and South America, amounting to 3.0% of the total. Boosting travel from that region could also help reduce the tourism product’s seasonality, which has negative socioeconomic consequences.
In addition, one must avoid premature conclusions regarding growth and saturation. Stat reported 855,994 air arrivals while the accompanying graphic showed less than 600,000 in pre-Hurricane Irma 2016, considered the previous record year.
However, the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) informed this newspaper that there were actually close to 1.8 million passenger movements already in 2014, according to PJIA’s last published annual accounts. This would translate to about 900,000 arrivals.
The latter assumes most people fly in and out, although some may also do so by ferry, via Grand Case Airport or otherwise. Nevertheless, the employer’s organisation’s point is well-taken.
To determine if indeed the destination is “full” as some have claimed, hard facts and solid comparable numbers are essential.
CORRECTION
Thursday’s editorial mentioned Member of Parliament (MP) Sjamira Roosenburg, when her last name is actually Roseburg. The author apologises for the error and any inconvenience it may have caused.
