Tag-Archive for "Princess Juliana Airport"
Commissioner of Tourism and Aviation Frans Richardson reached an agreement with GOL Airlines in Brazil on Friday for a year-round weekly flight to St. Maarten.
The agreement is seen as a major step in St. Maarten’s efforts to establish itself as a year-round tourism destination.
While Richardson and Tourist Bureau head Regina Labega were hoping for a twice-weekly flight, the commissioner said he was still ecstatic about the additional airlift. He also noted that the seasonal charter flight would continue.
The agreement means that St. Maarten will have two flights out of Brazil in the high season and one in the off season. The GOL flight will be via Bogotá, Colombia, to St. Maarten.
The end of March 2010 has been tentatively identified as the start date of the new service using a 737 or 767 aircraft. Should the weekly flight prove successful for GOL and the destination, Richardson will meet with GOL executives again in an effort to add a second weekly flight.
GOL will be seeking assistance from St. Maarten in marketing the flight aggressively to ensure its success. When airlines start servicing an island, Richardson explained, they tend to want to feel secure that the destination will do its share towards the success of the service.
Four major Brazilian wholesalers (travel agent firms and tourism-related companies) are now on board to strengthen promotions and representatives of Sonesta Maho Group have shown their commitment by also being present in Brazil to help secure the flight for St. Maarten. Richardson is expected to call on the private sector to do its part on his return to the island.
His week-long itinerary consisted of the launching of St. Maarten’s new branding strategy in Brazil, which he said had been “very impressive to the Brazilians,” meeting with Brazil’s largest tour operator CVC, and a series of other meetings, including those with GOL.
Source : Daily Herald
St. Maarten as a destination received more positive news on Monday when WestJet announced it would be expanding its seasonal service to St. Maarten to year-round.
WestJet’s inaugural flight touched down at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) in November 2009 with 116 passengers on board. The airline currently flies non-stop between Toronto and St. Maarten three times a week and will continue at this rate until April 29. Flying time on each leg is about 4½ hours.
With the expansion of the service to year-round, WestJet will service St. Maarten once a week, on Sundays, with additional calls during the high season.
“We are pleased with the number of guests using the South-bound service and the North-bound service. It is a mixture of leisure and business travellers, as well as guests visiting friends and family in Canada and on the island. There is a large Caribbean population in the Greater Toronto area, and we know they appreciate the opportunity to return home from time to time via WestJet,” said WestJet Manager of Public Relations Robert Palmer.
He added that WestJet was happy with the service at PJIA, and “everything is coming together nicely. On a personal note, I was fortunate enough to be on our inaugural flight to St. Maarten in November and without a doubt it is truly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely on my list of places to return to,” Palmer said.
“This is a strategic expansion of new routes within our network, and an extension of flight offerings to some of our key winter routes that remain popular destinations through the summer season,” said Executive Vice-President of Strategy and Planning Hugh Dunleavy.
“This schedule also demonstrates our strong commitment to take Canadians where they want to go, when they want to go. Now our guests will have the opportunity to visit more of their favourite destinations on a year-round basis.”
WestJet Vacations has become a trusted and preferred travel provider for Canadian vacationers since its launch in 2006. Canada is St. Maarten’s second-largest source market.
Commissioner in charge of Aviation Frans Richardson lauded in November the economic spin-off the new service would have for St. Maarten in all tourism-related sectors. He said preliminary figures indicated that the WestJet service could account for US $5.5 million for the island coffers from November 2009 to April 2010.
He also assured WestJet executives that the airline could count on commitment from his office and the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau in making the business relationship between the airline and the destination a resounding success.
Source : Daily Herald
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten — A shortage of jet fuel in St. Maarten has resulted in rationing at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) “seriously affecting the operations of private jets,” according to the island’s newspaper The Daily Herald.
According to the The Daily Herald “no commercial aircraft were affected, a number of private jets had to fly to Antigua to be fueled.”
The shortage was attributed to the annual closing of the Point a Pierre refinery, located in South Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago, to undergo an annual maintenance shutdown from December 28 to January 4 and the high sea swells in the region which have led to tanker delays.
A new delivery this this weekend is expected to bring operations back to normal.
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No other Caribbean island offers as much diversity as St. Maarten. Formidable mountain ranges meet lush flatlands against the background of spectacular ocean views and breathtaking sunsets. A landing port for some of the world’s largest, exclusive yachts, St. Maarten is a sailor’s dream.
Enjoy duty-free shopping from the world’s finest retailers who have locations throughout the island. A stellar selection of restaurants makes St. Maarten a premier location for fine dining, and the nightlife keeps the island buzzing after dark.
If the beach is your ultimate destination, then lie down on the gleaming white sand or dip into the turquoise waters of the ocean. For those seeking more excitement, St. Maarten is a great place for almost every water sport imaginable. Snorkeling, Scuba diving, surfing and sailing are available on most of the resorts and public beaches.
Category: Caribbean News, St Maarten News, St Martin News
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She has been celebrating her 27th birthday on the island of St Maarten as of late, and yesterday (January 7) Kate Bosworth was spotted returning to Miami International Airport. The “Blue Crush” babe looked lovely as she made her way through the terminal with a female friend, sporting a black and white top with denim shorts.
Category: Caribbean News, Netherlands Antilles, SXM News, St Maarten News, St Martin News
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This is a complete street level map for St Maarten for your iPhone. The entire map is stored on your iPhone, so it works where you have no access to the Internet – it works where Google Maps is inaccessible.
Lets you find all streets, and many useful locations such as ATM’s, parkings, museums, and many others. Remembers where you’ve been so you can find that parking spot where you left your rental car. To make sure your phone doesn’t use any expensive data on your trip, go to Settings, then General, tap on Network, and slide the Data Roaming to “off”.
Requirements:
· Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch
· iPhone OS 3.0 or later
Click here to visit Apple’s Itunes Store to download the map.
See below screen shot from the Itunes store.
Category: Caribbean News, Netherlands Antilles, St Maarten News, St Martin News
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St. Maarten Tourism Unveils New Branding Campaign
St. Maarten is focusing on the variety of experiences that vacationers enjoy with a new branding campaign that captures the “feeling of the experience” that visitors elicit during their stay on the island. When announcing the new branding campaign for the destination, St. Maarten Commissioner of Tourism Frans Richardson explained that the concept behind the branding can be summed up with one statement: “It’s all in our name.” Working with the spelling of “St. Maarten,” the just-launched campaign will capture audiences across North America with positive adjectives purposefully misspelled with “capital double ‘A’s” followed immediately by the words “St. Maarten.”
The campaign identity, created by advertising agency Tambourine, will be visible in all logos, videos, print and outdoor advertising, specialty marketing items, brochures and stationary as well as an image gallery which features all new photography from an extensive on-island photo shoot recently completed by Tambourine. Adjectives will constantly be changing depending on the focus of specific ads. For instance, when promoting St. Maarten as a wedding and honeymoon destination, an ad may read: “PAASSIONATE ST. MAARTEN.” When conveying St. Maarten as an active vacation playground, an audience could see: “PLAAYFUL ST. MAARTEN.”
A just-launched public relations campaign to promote winter specials for vacationers is using “SENSAATIONAL ST. MAARTEN” to capture the deals that are now available. Other words designed for the campaign include: MAAGICAL, GLAAMOROUS, CHAARMING, and ENCHAANTING.
“We are very proud of our diversity with a wide range of attractions and activities, a variety of accommodations, more than 300 quality restaurants and our central location which enables vacationers to enjoy day trips to other islands,” said Richardson. “This campaign allows us to tap into and highlight all the things that make St. Maarten an ideal vacation destination through words and phrases that truly represent how a traveler feels while on-island.”
The branding campaign is part of an overall new marketing strategy being launched under the direction of Richardson, which coincides with the hiring of KTCpr, headed up by long-time Caribbean marketing and public relations specialist Richard S. Kahn. The new branding will encompass advertising, public relations, marketing and sales as well as a new website.
“Our mission was to take St. Maarten in a new direction and illustrate how the island ‘feels’ rather than literally documenting the infrastructure of the island,” said Rafael Cardozo, president of Tambourine. “The concept is innovative and playful; the message is strong and memorable. In addition to the logos, the photo collection tells a story of the vacation experiences captured through movement, mood and expression. Most importantly the campaign is a true representation of the beauty and excitement of the destination.”
Category: Caribbean News, Caribbean Travel, Netherlands Antilles, St Maarten News
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Category: Air travel, Caribbean Travel, Netherlands Antilles
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JetBlue have announced a brilliant new travel pass, although it is for a limited time only (9 September-8 October). The All-You-Can-Jet Pass lets you make unlimited flights anywhere on the JetBlue network for one month for just USD$599.
It is good for travel on more than 600 daily flights to 57 cities on the jetBlue network. Domestic taxes and fees are included for travel within the United States, but you have to pay taxes for flights to Puerto Rico and to international destinations such as the Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, St Maarten and St Lucia.
You need to be a member of TrueBlue, JetBlue’s frequent flyer program, to use the pass. You earn 35 TrueBlue points when you buy the pass, but the flights you make with the pass aren’t eligible for any points.
This pass is only available for sale until 21 August 2009 (or while stock lasts), it is only valid for flights from 9 September to 8 October 2009, you must book your flights with jetBlue’s call centre at least three days before each flight and you must only book one flight per city per day (in other words just because your flights are free, don’t make multiple bookings you won’t use).
Category: Air travel, Airline Schedule, Caribbean Travel, SXM Airfare, St Maarten News
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