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The Commissioner of Tourism for Saba, Bruce Zagers paid a three day visit to Sint Maarten to talk to stakeholders in tourism. Commissioner Zagers took over the tourism portfolio on June 1st, and is determined to work together with the tourism industry on Saba to improve tourism on the island. Before traveling to Sint Maarten, the Commissioner and his team met with about 15 stakeholders in Saba’s tourism industry to get their input on what is needed to improve Saba’s touristic product. Zagers: ‘The meetings with stakeholders such as hotels, restaurants and dive shops taught me that there is a lot of positive energy and ideas in the sector, but there is also a lot of work to do for us. I want to make sure that government will improve its position as a valuable and reliable partner for the tourism sector.’
With the input from the stakeholders, Zagers travelled to Sint Maarten with a delegation of four last week to see what can be done for tourism on Saba on both the short term and the long term. Zagers: ‘On Sint Maarten we met with partners such as management of the marinas, the Sint Maarten Yacht Club, Aquamania, yacht rental companies and the Minister of Tourism of Sint Maarten. Two members of the delegation used the trip to visit as many activity desks as possible to see how Saba can be marketed as an attractive destination. Together with my team I will now work on a Tourism Program, which will include action points like making a brochure for day trippers, developing the Fort Bay area into a more pleasant area for tourists, improving the moorings and investing in online marketing. I will do this in close cooperation with the local stakeholders.’ To finalize the Tourism Program, Commissioner Zagers is planning a trip to St Barths to meet local stakeholders in the tourism industry, as well as a trip to Bonaire to see what can be done to expedite immigration procedures at the Fort Bay and the Airport.
GIS Saba