The expansion was unveiled at SHTA’s Annual General Membership Meeting at Carl’s Unique Inn on June 19, an event that also marked the association’s 55th anniversary.
PHILIPSBURG--In a move to strengthen the online visibility and global reach of the island’s tourism sector, St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) has expanded its Online Travel Agents (OTA) Index by adding 100 new operators.
The update includes booking channels for hotels, activities, restaurants, villas and – for the first time – a dedicated segment for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE).
The expansion was announced during SHTA’s Annual General Membership Meeting held at Carl’s Unique Inn on June 19, where the association also celebrated its 55th anniversary and welcomed 33 new member businesses, including three hotels.
The OTA Index, now featuring 330 online travel agencies, is a digital database curated by SHTA to help local tourism-related businesses – particularly smaller enterprises with limited marketing budgets – access international travel markets.
The index includes well-known names like Expedia, Booking.com, Viator and Tripadvisor, but also highlights many lesser-known platforms that specialise in niche markets, languages, travel styles and regions.
The aim of this initiative is to level the playing field for small tourism businesses that cannot afford expensive marketing campaigns or travel to trade fairs abroad. By tapping into a wide variety of OTAs, these businesses can significantly enhance their online presence and global reach.
The 2025 update features a stronger focus on villa rentals and introduces 15 MICE-focused OTAs catering to event planners and corporate travel organisers – an emerging market segment with growing potential in the Caribbean.
Online Travel Agencies have long overtaken traditional tour operators and travel agents in global booking volumes. According to GlobalData.com, the OTA market is projected to reach a global value of US $765 billion by the end of 2025, with further growth expected
to push that figure to $1.2 trillion by 2027.
SHTA is adamant that for a tourism-dependent destination like St. Maarten, leveraging this digital shift is essential. By diversifying access to specialised OTAs – ranging from budget-friendly to luxury-focused, and from regional to global – the Index helps local operators match their offerings with targeted traveller demographics. Many of the newly-added OTAs operate through dedicated apps and user-friendly interfaces that allow for greater customisation and reach.
SHTA believes the expanded Index will be especially valuable for small hotels, villas, tour operators, restaurants, activity providers and shops – businesses that often lack the staff or financial resources to engage directly with international tour operators or participate in overseas tourism expos.
The OTA Index is part of SHTA’s broader mission to support the sustainability and competitiveness of the local tourism economy through innovation, networking and capacity building. The Index is accessible to all SHTA members and will continue to evolve as digital travel trends and platforms develop.
