Amigo Tours Selects Heritage Village As “SMART2026 Booth of The Year”
Out of over a 100 company and NGO booths present at the 2026 St. Maarten / St. Martin Annual Regional Tradeshow (SMART) held this June 22nd to 26th, the booth of the Heritage Village in Colombier was selected as best tradeshow booth of the year.
This was announced today by main SMART sponsor Amigo Tours. Ottis Hughes of Amigo Tours: “Though it was a difficult challenge to choose from the many colorful, often creative and styled SMART booths present, we chose the booth of the Heritage Village. Walking through their booth, dressed up like a living room in the olden days added with a professional 21st century corporate backdrop, was an immersive St. Maarten cultural experience on itself. The influence of creative booth participant Clara Reyes could be clearly felt when passing by the booth”.
A New Contest
The idea to appoint a “Best Booth winner” was a post-SMART2025 idea by Nalia Muriel of St. Maarten Nectar, building on local carnival traditions. Muriel: “The lively designs of many SMART booths contribute to the dynamics of the tradeshow. Rewarding such only leads to further showing the immense creative capacity of the island”.
In charge of about a 100 guest transfers, 16 hotel visits, connections to 4 major events, destination management company (dmc) and transport provider Amigo Tours was granted the privilege of selecting the booth of the year for successfully completing the complex operations of SMART flawlessly. At two points, Amigo Tours received applause by foreign guests for their timely service regardless of often difficult to reach locations for island exploration pickups.
Winair finished at close second. “The idea to frame a booth as a departures hall experience created a direct incentive to go island hopping for the people passing by – an on brand company message”, mr Hughes said.
Notable, more business styled booths coming in a joint third spot were those of Grand Case Beach Club creatively projecting their logo on the JW Marriott ceiling in a 21st century fashion, Port de Plaisance resort and Dive St. Maarten “for going all out” and newcomer EDEIS / L’Esperance Airport. “All took a great effort to really provide a “business card” presence within the limitations of their allocated space.”
Honorable mentions went to the (booths of) host resort the JW Marriott, Sonesta resorts and Princess Juliana International Airport, “all creating an inviting lounge feel, not just for the 1500 set appointments at SMART, but also for the many small and medium enterprises with a “walkaround” ticket.”
Last but not least a honorable mention was provided to the Freedom Fighter Foundation / Ital Shack booth, which in “the Grant Thornton Green Room” provided natural island tastes in a lively fashion, adding to an immersive experience of the destination. From the same perspective of sustainability that SMART seeks to support, a “Best Giveaway” mention was for British Virgin Islands, providing passers by with a fully recyclable laptop bag.
The SMART organizers issued profound thanks to Amigo Tours for a seamless operation in a highly complex 8 days of transfers and tours. Mr Hughes: “It was a pleasure to be part of SMART and to show our abilities. By the “Best Booth” award we hope to have ignited a friendly competition for years to come, further adding to the liveliness of the already multifaceted event”.
About SMART
SMART 2026, held from June 22th to 26th, marked the 18th edition of the binational, publicly and privately organized event, intended to highlight tourism and other industries on the island and expand the island economy in the process.
SMART 2026 was made possible by the Office de Tourisme de Saint-Martin and the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau in conjunction with the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA) and the Club du Tourisme (CdT), with great private sector support. Apart from Amigo Tours, this pertains amongst others to collaborations with Air Caraibes, JW Marriott, Princess Juliana Internation Airport, SeaTrek, Grand Case Beach Club, ShowMe Caribbean, Winair, Expedia, Port St. Maarten, AutoBev, CC1 St. Maarten, Grant Thornton, BookingSuccess, Snap SXM, Liberty Business, Vins de Plage, COPA Airlines, KLM / Air France, Saba, Statia and Anguilla.
