Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
POINTE BLANCHE--Port St. Maarten has announced that on New Year's Eve, it welcomed the historical two-millionth cruise passenger. By the last day of the year, the country had received approximately 2,000,864 cruise passengers.
John and Marleen Tharpe and their three granddaughters had been on-board the Oasis of the Seas and were selected by newly instated Minister of Tourism Claret Connor at Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise Facility to mark the momentous occasion.
They were presented with a commemorative plaque by Minister Connor and will receive a free cruise for two as part of the historical achievement in St. Maarten's cruise history.
John and Marleen have visited St. Maarten twice before, while it was the first visit for the grandchildren. The family hails from Columbus, Georgia.
A Port press release described that "during a champagne toast between the minister, Supervisory Board representatives and Port management, Renald Williams, a member of the Supervisory Board of Directors, welcomed everyone present, and added that none of this would have been possible without the input and hard work of all concerned.
"Williams pointed out that there are challenges ahead, especially with the opening up of Cuba and its proximity to the United States. Williams said that the main priority in the New Year should be to keep the cruise passengers happy so that they will continue to want to visit St. Maarten."
Minister Connor also received a commemorative plaque to mark the occasion, and said that the milestone represented growth. "What you do every single day is very important for the country and the development of its people."
He added that he felt proud of this great achievement and congratulated the Port Board, management, staff, stakeholders and all those working in the tourism sector for a job well done on behalf of the Council of Ministers and the people of St. Maarten.
Minister Connor said, "St. Maarten is a trendsetter and would have to look for innovative and enhanced tours in order to remain at the top, adding that everybody who have contributed to this momentous moment would have to continue to give it 110 per cent to continue facilitating the growth of the country's economy," as described in the press release.
Minister Connor was also quoted as saying that he looked forward in a few years' time to the 2.5 million mark in cruise passengers.
In 2013, the destination received more than 1.7 million cruise passengers.
The press release concluded that its marketing efforts have paid off in reaching the milestone, and noted that it has made considerable investments into infrastructure-related cruise development during the past three years.
The most recent example is the Down Street Cruise Heritage Development Project, which is still under construction and slated to open in January, as was stated in a previous Port press release.
