Visitstmaarten.com Blog

The world’s three largest and newest cruise ships – Oasis of the Seas, Carnival Dream and Norwegian Epic – will be in port today, Tuesday.  Only Norwegian Epic was scheduled to be in port today. Due to the severe ocean conditions generated by Igor, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL) and Carnival Corporation decided to re-route their ships a day earlier to St. Maarten for passenger and ship safety.

The two cruise ships coming into port early means that the island’s cruise passenger arrivals will not dip due to the passing of the hurricane. Together, the three ships account for more than 13,152 passengers and some 5,000 crew members. Oasis of the Seas and Carnival Dream making their calls early, instead of cancelling the regular Wednesday calls means that not only would the island’s arrival numbers not be affected but that needed revenues will still come in, said St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies CEO Mark Mingo.

He said St. Maarten continues to be a premier cruise destination and what also counts for the two early port calls is that they come from two of the island’s main partners in the industry. Carnival and RCCL partnered with St. Maarten to ensure the upgrade of Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities could become a reality.

St. Maarten hosted its millionth cruise passenger for the year on August 21, the first time that milestone was reached so early in the year.

“Excerpts taken from the Daily Herald”

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Get away to Island Paradise and take advantage of this special rate:
Amsterdam to St. Maarten for € 759 roundtrip incl. taxes

For more information just go to our website www.visitstmaarten.com

Panamanian carrier Copa Airlines has confirmed that it will start service to St. Maarten in December, Commissioner of Tourism Frans Richardson announced Tuesday. The Commissioner said he was “elated” that Copa had agreed to service the destination, a testament to St. Maarten’s potential for the airline and standing in the Northeastern Caribbean.

“More business for the island means more work for our people and significant contribution to our economy.  The effort of this administration, our tourist office and others is paying dividends in attracting new carriers to St. Maarten,” he said.

Copa is the third airline the Commissioner has secured for St. Maarten since taking office in July 2009.    WestJet out of Canada and GOL out of Brazil are the other two. Richardson and St. Maarten Tourist Bureau head Regina Labega met with Copa’s International Sales Director Adolfo Sen last week Wednesday.  The flight will be a direct one from Panama City, Panama, servicing the island twice weekly.  It will arrive on Tuesdays and Fridays at approximately 4:50pm.

St. Maarten will commit US $1 million in pulling and pushing the new market, while other promotions will be executed cooperatively with Copa. The new flight will be for an 18-month introductory period and both parties expect demand for the route and the flight to grow based on projections.

Sonesta Maho and Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resorts have already indicated that they will work with Copa In terms of packages rates. “Copa is part of our continuing effort to attract new businesses to St. Maarten.

“Excerpts from this article taken from the Daily Herald”

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‘It takes a story to raise a child’ Philipsburg Jubilee Library, Mondriaan Foundation and the Ark Foundation present “It takes a story to raise a child” – A wonderful, must see performance for all who love reading or hearing stories being told.

The role of stories plays a major part in the lives of children, whether hearing a story that has been passed down through the ages of time or reading a story themselves. The goal is simple – to raise happy, avid readers just by telling/hearing a story. The road from here to there has been made simple by Mr. Wijn and Stomp, a.k.a. Mr. Anansi, a professional theatrical storyteller from the Netherlands who is here on island to train prospective storytellers in the wonderful art of being a convincing storyteller.

The Storytellers will be showing their new skills to everyone at Philipsburg Cultural Centre on Back Street, on Friday, August 27, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

“Excerpts from this article taken from the Daily Herald”

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Leader of Government Commissioner William Marlin, entrepreneur Greg Richardson and up and coming model Jamie Leigh Marie Brooks are the St. Maarten personalities featured in the current issue of Focus Caribbean Magazine. The magazines will be available free in St. Maarten for a limited time. Snapshots of NAGICO’s gala award dinner and midyear conference and Windward Islands Bank summer fair are also featured in the full colour gloss publication.

Published in Aruba, Focus Caribbean also features entertaining tit bits on “who’s who” in Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba. In St. Maarten Focus Caribbean are available at several leading supermarkets and other establishments including Chill Out in Le Grand Marche; Van Dorp; Shipwreck Shops; New China Store on the A. Th. Illidge Road; St. Peters Pharmacy and Friendly Island Drugstore.

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Tel’Em will host a Social Event on Saturday August 28th

There will be music, games and entertainment for the entire family.

Come out Play and have Fun!

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Kenneth Jones of Hempstead, New York, thought he was just another cruise ship passenger and was just looking forward to a day at the beach surrounded by some 25 members of his family when he disembarked Carnival Victory on Saturday, but had the shock of his life when he was randomly selected as the island’s symbolic millionth passenger.

Jones, approached by St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies CEO Mark Mingo and COO Keith Franca on Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise Pier, first thought it was some marketing gimmick to persuade him to buy some time or take a tour. Mingo assured Jones, who was surrounded by some of his family members who were about to take an island tour with a stop on Orient Beach, that the millionth passenger selection was legitimate. The prize for this honour was a round trip to St. Maarten and a week’s stay in a hotel for Jones and three family members.

The immediately usable part of the prize was an island tour and lunch. Dutch St. Maarten Taxi Association President Otis Hughes was on hand for the presentation and ensured that the family received the best island ambassadors for their tour. The harbour took care of cost of the island tour and lunch for 14 of the 25 family members who had originally planned to participate in these activities.

Mingo also pointed out that the passenger coming off a Carnival ship was also a reason to be happy. Carnival Corporation is a main partner in the Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities expansion that included the addition of the mega-cruise ship pier designed for new 220,000-tonne cruise ships.

Providing a week-long round trip and stay in St. Maarten is also strategic. Mingo said there had been talk about trying to convert cruise passengers into stay-over visitors, so this would help.  This is the first time the millionth-passenger mark has been reached in August. St. Maarten has been playing host to a million and more passengers for nine years now.

For more information you can go to our website www.visitstmaarten.com

As the world comes together to celebrate 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) announced that the World Tourism Day (WTD) celebrations, hosted officially this year by China, will take place under the theme Tourism and Biodiversity (27 September, Guangdong Province).

The theme provides a unique opportunity to raise public awareness of the importance of biodiversity to tourism and the role of sustainable tourism in the conservation of life on Earth.

The UNWTO said biodiversity is a key tourism asset and fundamental to its sustained growth. “Intact and healthy ecosystems form the cornerstone of thousands of tourist enterprises and products worldwide, attracting hundreds of millions of tourists each year.

The theme Tourism and Biodiversity is particularly pertinent in 2010. Concerned by the continued loss of biological diversity, the United Nations Assembly declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity. The year coincides with the target adopted by governments in 2002 to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.

Central WTD celebrations will take place in Guangdong Province, China. Alongside a series of cultural events organized by the Chinese Government, the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) will host the 2010 World Tourism Day Think Tank around this year’s theme.

The Think Tank will bring together leading public and private tourism stakeholders, as well as biodiversity experts and members of the media, to highlight the close relationship between tourism and biodiversity, and identify how tourism can contribute to preserving life on Earth and its unique biodiversity.

“Excerpts from this article taken from the Daily Herald”

Go to our website www.visitstmaarten.com for more information