Dear Editor,
In your Saturday edition you paid attention to the matter of the support provided by government for the annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta .
In a small economy like ours the government has to be in close touch with economic potentials and niche markets if we are going to compete against the many competitive destinations. In larger and developed economies, larger well-funded institutions will play a role in advancing sectors, but these are not yet in existence here. Somehow our government will need to have an understanding of high potential niche markets to influence and mentor them favourably, and our citizens are going to suffer or enjoy the consequences of how they handle these niche markets .
The yachting sector of St. Maarten has been clearly shown by impartial researchers to drive 15 per cent of the St. Maarten economy, but it is a niche market with more niches within the general category of “yachting.”
The yachting sector should be looked at by government in terms of what benefits this sector can bring to the economy of St. Maarten. Various tourism reports, including the Master Plan, have pointed at the potential of this sector to contribute to the economy; in fact, it has been the most consistent advice that I have seen in the many reports. In spite of this, there has been little or no effort to develop a strategy and a knowledge base in government on this sector. In spite of the opinions of some MPs, the yachting sector provides significant high income employment and a solid tax return to the public sector.
The Heineken Regatta is one of the obvious strong points in this industry, creating clearly noticeable benefits and should enjoy some support, and the support must be consistent otherwise it is more damaging than positive in the long run. But, there are likely to be more initiatives in this industry besides this successful event that will provide a positive long term return to our economy.
The successive recent governments have chosen to pay relatively much more attention to areas of the economy that, in the overwhelming opinion of economists, provide much less potential for return and neglected this high potential but complex niche in the economy. Providing inconsistent support to the Heineken Regatta makes no sense whatsoever; the neglect of the rest of the sector is no better and in many cases there is no substantial cost involved.
Robbie Ferron
Founder St. Maarten Heineken Regatta
