SABA--Commissioner of Tourism Bruce Zagers met with hotel and dive shop owners Monday, to discuss recent updates within Saba’s tourism industry and upcoming projects for 2018. Included in the discussion were the upcoming plan for a redesigned Saba Tourism website, the upgrade of the building and location of the Tourist Office, current plans for the expansion of Fort Bay Harbour, accessibility to Saba and new contracts for the benefit of Saba’s tourism industry.
In 2015, a two-year contract was signed with public relations company D&D PR in New York. The coverage and connections that this company has generated have been very beneficial for Saba and it was, therefore, decided to extend the contract for another year.
A two-year contract has also been signed with Green Destinations, a company in the Netherlands that helps destinations to meet their sustainability goals while also promoting destinations on various “green” platforms.
A social-media expert will also be contracted for a year. During that time the expert is to provide social-media marketing training to the Tourist Office and other tourism stakeholders, assist the Tourist Office in social-media marketing of the island, and lead in the development of the new tourism website.
At the beginning of 2017, Saba began gathering tourism statistics to determine visitors numbers more accurately. By the end of 2017, approximately 10,222 tourists visited Saba via Fort Bay and 8,188 visited via Juancho Yrausquin Airport. These numbers include tourists, employees of Government Service Caribbean Netherlands RCN, yacht visitors and cruise ship passengers.
Because the project began in mid-January 2017 and with the disturbance of the hurricanes in September, the statistics presented are not a complete analysis. The project is continuing in 2018. The statistics were also discussed during the meeting.
“The meeting with the stakeholders went well. It is important that we maintain an effective communication line between the different entities within the tourism industry. Other meetings will be held to ensure that the stakeholders remain updated and can provide feedback on the various projects. I look forward to meeting with them again in the near future,” Commissioner Zagers said after the meeting.
