Tourism:

Tourism is the primary engine of St. Maarten’s economy. This industry has contributed significantly to the steady rate of political, social, and economic progress, which the island has achieved in the past forty (40) years.

The success of this industry is primarily attributed to the country’s history of political stability, our people’s acceptance and recognition of the rule of law and our reputation for hospitality and friendliness.

St. Marten is in a unique position of being the smallest island in the world to be shared by two governments and its advertising tagline reads “Twice the Vacation, Twice the Fun”. Thus, St. Maarten’s tourism product offers visitors one of the most diverse and exciting vacation experiences in the Caribbean, two vacations for the price of one.

The island is served by a growing number of scheduled airlines and chartered flights from North and South America and the other Caribbean islands. A later section in this publication will detail the recent improvements and on-going plans to enlarge and upgrade the facilities at the Princess Juliana International Airport.

Over twenty (20) cruise lines presently visit St. Maarten and the construction of the new pier, complete with complimentary facilities such as paved areas, and a cruise terminal building with landscaping was completed in 2001. St. Maarten’s geographical location and easy accessibility by sea and air makes the destination very attractive as a hub for the North Eastern Caribbean.

St. Maarten has 37 beaches and offers a variety of water sports, golf, tennis, horse back riding, day trips to neighboring island, and the best duty free shopping in the region. Evening activities include dining at the finest restaurants in the Caribbean, gambling in glamorous casinos with Las Vegas style reviews and visiting several nightspots with entertainment and discos.

Hotel accommodations on St. Maarten range from luxurious multi-story modern hotels to quaint, often personalized guesthouses. In the aftermath of recent hurricanes some properties are being rebuilt, however, this has not deterred interest by major hotel chains and other investors in the investment possibilities existing on St. Maarten.

The overall performance of the tourism industry in St. Maarten has been maintained despite the natural and non-natural occurrences (hurricanes and September 11th,) that affected the economy here on the island. During the year 2001 there was a total of 1.270.401 tourists that decided to visit the island. This total includes both cruise and stay-over tourists.

The overall tourism development strategy currently being executed will allow for an improved hotel service, air and cruise arrival product, and offer more diversity. This will ultimately enhance the overall visitor experience and standard of living for the entire community of St. Maarten

CEDP
The great hurricanes of the 1990‘s caused severe structural damages on St. Maarten, some of them irreversible. The aftermath of 911 terrorists attacks further undermined tourism in the region in general and for St. Maarten in particular. This exposes our economic vulnerability as a one-pillar economy, which is based on tourism and subsequently; government considers it imperative to commence the process of economic diversification to acquire economic sustainability.

In order to restore sustained economic growth and development on St. Maarten several instruments are being put into place. One significant program towards this objective is the CEDP (Comprehensive Economic Development Plan)
In this plan the funding stakeholders are
v The island Government of St. Maarten
v The co- donors
v The private sector of St. Maarten

The program initially started in September 2001, covering the period 2001-2005, however, a revised CEDP was developed in 2003 and this report covers the period of 2004-2007. The CEDP program is one of the sub programs to be funded from the Development Fund, which have the following areas of (co)-funding focuses:
1. Law enforcement
2. Education
3. Sustainable Economic Development
4. Administrative Development
The financing of the program is based on a fund-matching scheme in which the Island Government of St. Maarten, the (co)- donors and the private sector are the funding stakeholders. The CEDP falls within the Sustainable Economic Development Program. This program is expected to contribute in a significant way to the improvement and enhancement of structural sustained economic growth on St. Maarten. The manner in which this will be achieved is by means of a twofold approach,

1) Rebuilding of the tourism industry
2) Diversification of the economy (i.e. e-Business, (Light)-Manufacturing & Warehouse/Distribution Center)

The former relates specifically to the assessing of our tourism, improve our strengths, strengthen our weakness, minimize our threats, and capitalize on our opportunities. The assessment relates to all aspects of our tourism industry, traditional, vacation ownership, cruise, marine, as well as the product development aspects of the industry. Whereas the focus of the latter objective of diversification is primarily focused on the acquiring a more balance economy to cushion our vulnerability associated with the tourism industry or more specifically to our one pillar economy. By means of this effort, we will ensure a more sustainable economic development for the citizens and visitors of St. Maarten.
To attain the above-mentioned objectives, the contribution of the various stakeholders for the period 2004-2007 will be

1) Island Government St. Maarten Naf 24.6
million
2) Private Sector St. Maarten Naf 27.1 million
3) (Co)-Donor Naf 37.6 million
By means of this partnership, the expected economic activity and the various associated spin-offs, the economy will undergo a significant transformation with the end result of acquiring sustainable economic development.