Saint Martin: A touch of Europe in the Caribbean

Saint Martin Tourism hosted 35 travel agents at the swanky Fairmont Royal York in downtown Toronto last night. We dined in the Library Room, surrounded by books, but this was no Dickens tale. Even though the grand hall was festooned with Christmas trees and twinkling lights, we pined for the Caribbean island’s sunny and sandy beaches.

According to Emile Louisy, of Saint Martin Tourism, about 45,000 Canadians travelled to the island in 2015, making Canada their fourth largest market, at eight per cent. He wanted to get the number of Canadian visitors up to 90,000, "with your help,” he told the agents.

It's been a few years since they've held this event, and Kate Richardson, of Saint Martin Tourism, admitted apologetically "we deserted the [Canadian] market over the years. We had a lot of work to do in-house and we focused on other markets – 45,000 is nothing compared to what we can do."

"We want to drive more business from Canada,” emphasized Louisy. “We have a lot of repeat customers. Once Canadians are comfortable they keep coming back." The first couple of times they might go for an all-inclusive, he said, because ”Canadians love their all-inclusives,” but on their third visit, that’s a different story. “They want to try something out of the box,” he said. People can get "tired of big, huge complexes and all-inclusives, and start turning to smaller, boutique hotels,” which is what the French side of the country has to offer. In fact, he said, “there’s a growing demand for luxury villas.”

The other side of the island is Dutch, but he said there's no need for a passport to travel around within the island (still bring a passport to get there), English is spoken everywhere, and while there are two different currencies (the Euro and the Netherland Antilles Florin), the US dollar is universally accepted.

There are direct flights of 4.5 hours from Toronto and Montreal. Carriers include Sunwing, WestJet, Air Canada, and Air Transat. He admitted that it can be tough to compete price wise with a destination like Cuba or Cancun, but the people who come to Saint Martin are looking for a more luxury experience, that combines the tastes and cultures of Europe with the Caribbean.

The 37 beaches, he said, are all white sand, with crystal-clear water. When snorkeling off of Pinel Island, there are so many fish, it’s like “swimming in an aquarium.” Neighbouring islands, like Anguilla and Saint Barts, can easily be visited as day trips. One of the more unique offerings he mentioned was the Tijon perfumery, where visitors can create, and bottle, their very own perfume. “Many people find that quite interesting,” he said. “I haven’t seen that at other Caribbean islands.” And there are French cafés, where visitors can enjoy an authentic café au lait with a chocolate croissant.

To help agents better market this unique destination, Richardson said that in the first few months of 2017, they will be organizing a series of sales calls with Canadian travel agents. “We want to support you, and update you, and help you better sell the destination.”

For more information, visit st-martin.org.