Our Country, Economy and Community
During 2019, the country continued the rebuilding of the island, with post-Irma construction nearing its conclusion. While not all major hotels were yet restored or rebuilt, some reopened, and coupled with the partial restoration of the Princess Juliana International Airport, these supported the rebounding of the island’s stay-over tourism product and increase in visitors from traditional tourism markets, particularly North and South America. Unfortunately, cruise tourism did not fare as well as stay-over tourism, recording a decline when compared with the previous year. This decline resulted mainly from increased competition from other Caribbean islands and the redeployment of ships by major cruise lines.