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LITTLE BAY--The island's top trip-booking producer Expedia highlighted an urgent need for the destination to invest in marketing – currently non-existent with the global company – to improve its sub-par growth performance as compared to regional destinations, in a presentation at Divi Little Bay Resort on Thursday.

More than 40 tourism accommodation and tourism stakeholder representatives received the presentation, which showed local partners how to strategise in various areas of business and make the most effective use of Expedia's website resources, and honed in on key market trends. The main aim of the presentation was to show local accommodation partners how to track performance and stay competitive.

"There's no spending on either side of the island," Expedia's Area Manager for the Caribbean Brett Minzner explained in the segment on destination performance as judged by Expedia's figures, collected through its dozen brands which include Travelocity, Hotwire, Trivago and Hotels.com.

The Dutch and French sides can choose to invest in marketing together, but even if the sides choose to do so independently, "the website is smart enough to differentiate" and can promote each side separately, by separating the accommodation search results. Although the two sides would benefit more by collaborating, this prevents one side having to wait for the other, or wondering if its marketing dollars would unfairly favour the other side, Minzner said.

The combined destination (Dutch and French sides) was one of just two destinations in the Caribbean to experience single-digit growth in 2015 compared to 2014 in terms of room-nights booked, while all others experienced double-digit growth. The French side on its own only just managed double-digit growth.

The Bahamas was the other exception, but that destination has been facing a lot of negative press in the midst of a bankruptcy claim by the popular Vegas-style resort Baha Mar. It also is heavily affected by seasonality connected to the use of "air credits."

However, The Bahamas has been spending heavily on marketing, as have other major destinations such as Aruba and Jamaica. The Dominican Republic in particular also increased marketing efforts to make up for a sharp decrease in its Russian market, a trend that prompted the other destinations to increase their own marketing efforts.

Aruba also was highlighted as having higher and much more consistent performance than St. Maarten/St. Martin in terms of what it is able to charge in average daily rates as well as in number of room-nights booked. The exception is the French side in high-season November/December, when higher rates are charged than in Aruba.

Aruba easily scores double the room-nights booked compared to St. Maarten/St. Martin throughout the year and the same is projected for the upcoming six months according to trips already booked.

Although St. Maarten has good airlift, Minzner also pointed out that some destinations were increasing their direct-flight reach. He said the island could benefit from a direct flight to the United States' West Coast. Jamaica recently did just that, and Hawaii also has extended its reach by establishing a direct flight to the East Coast – St. Maarten/St. Martin's major source market.

The presentation was delivered by Minzner, who is based in Florida, and St. Maarten-based Minu Thawani, Associate Market Manager for the Caribbean.

All types of lodging fall under Expedia, from large hotels to bed-and-breakfast accommodation to vacation rentals.

Augusto Priest and Marla Chemont of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, Emile Louisy and Ricardo Bethel of St. Martin Office du Tourisme, and Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) President Emil Lee were other key tourism stakeholders counted amongst attendees, as were two representatives of Royal Resorts based in Cancun, Mexico, who flew in for the presentation.