Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
From left: Port St. Maarten CEO Mark Mingo and MP Theo Heyliger present a Port St. Maarten plaque to Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald, a strategic cruise partner.
POINTE BLANCHE--Port St. Maarten Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Mingo has announced two milestones for the port: it is expected to surpass St. Thomas for the first time ever in terms of number of cruise passengers, and it is expected to hit the two million mark. He also held a meeting on moving forward with Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald and Member of Parliament (MP) Theo Heyliger.
The figures represent significant developments in St. Maarten's cruise history. In 2013 St. Maarten received 1,785,670 cruise passengers on 631 vessel calls, compared to St. Thomas' 1,886,647. This signified a 32,455 person increase for St. Maarten from 2012.From January to July 2014, St. Maarten received a record 1.2 million cruise passengers via 442 ship calls. In July it received 119,121 passengers, compared to 95,684 in July 2013.In the three months leading into the off season (May, June and July) the port received 337,023 cruise passengers, compared to 260,173 in the same period in 2013.Port authorities say they have seen vessels with full capacity in the past several months. For example, the Allure of the Seas which would normally come in with 5400 passengers has been docking with approximately 6300.
The meeting recently held with the new Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald, included Mingo and MP/former government shareholder representative for the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies (SHGC) Theo Heyliger. It is unclear whether Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication Ted Richardson had been invited.An SHGC press release stated that "Heyliger was included due to his years of experience in tourism and with the cruise industry as well as his personal business contacts that he has built up over the years with cruise executives," adding that he oversaw cruise expansion facilities and the construction of the Boardwalk Boulevard.
"This meeting was essential to discuss how we are moving forward together as partners. Carnival Cruise Lines was one of the financial contributors into the construction of Cruise Pier 2," said Mingo."Port St. Maarten has to strategically remain ahead in order to maintain the level of economic activity that is generated by the cruise industry on the island...We need to make the right investments in order to maintain our position, because numbers could also rapidly decline as well. We need to further develop our on-shore excursions in a sustainable manner."Our country needs a clear destination strategy that brings a good balance between cruise and stay over visitors. Investors at the end of the day look at stability and growth. We need all hands on deck to continue the cruise St. Maarten success story."Other destinations want part of the business and this is one of the reasons behind hosting the Florida Caribbean Cruise Conference and Trade Show under the theme, Reinventing Cruise St. Maarten," he added.
Carnival Cruise Lines recently signed a Letter of Intent to develop a new port on an isolated Haitian barrier island, Ile de la Tortue, to the tune of US $70 million. Furthermore, both Tortola (British Virgin Islands) and St. Croix (U.S. Virgin Islands) are investing in cruise development and/or expansion.
