GREAT BAY:---- As part of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau (STB) Caribbean Tourism Day/Month awareness campaign, Anastacio Baker, is a young tourism professional working as Managing Director of Baker’s Suites Boutique Hotel in Simpson Bay.
Baker works in the family business and will celebrate his second anniversary as Managing Director in January 2016.
Anastacio loves working in the tourism field. “It’s a wonderful feeling to see your guests happy about your service, quality of your rooms and the attention to detail by your staff. These key ingredients bring a smile to a guests face,” Baker points out.
Baker adds that job satisfaction comes because every day offers different experiences. “The satisfaction I get out of this job is the fact that it is never boring. Today, will never be like yesterday or the day before.
“Being in the hotel business you are faced with all types of guest personalities, and it is our job to ensure that we make each guests feel as comfortable as possible. The goal is to always meet the expectation of each guest,” Anastacio Baker explains.
Baker’s interests initially started out with his fascination with aviation and customizing cars. A teacher told him that he should consider becoming an aircraft mechanic and this is what he pursued while studying abroad in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Baker has an Associate’s degree in Aircraft Maintenance Technology; a Bachelor’s degree in Aviation Maintenance Management; and two Master’s degrees in Airport Safety and Aviation Management.
The credentials gained above provided the tools for Baker to become an entrepreneur.
“I took various business classes and fell in love with business. When I completed my Bachelor’s degree, I decided to go into the business aspect of Aviation which was Airport Management. The decision was one of the best moves I made as this paved the way for me to becoming an entrepreneur. It was there that I came up with my first business idea which was ‘Da Party Bus,’” Baker explained.
Anastacio Baker says, his advice to the nation’s youth who are interested in pursuing a career in tourism is to ‘go for it.’
“Everything seems hard and unreachable until you find the secret to get it done right. The only way you can get it right, is if you try, fail and keep on trying. Most of us are afraid to fail and that is a big reason we never try.
“One of my secrets on my journey is that I try not to listen to critics. Although we can always learn from everyone around us, at times that is one reason we keep ourselves back. At that time when you share your idea with someone, they would tell you 1000 reasons why your idea would not work, even though they themselves have not tried it. The less time you invest in this, the more your mind will dive into your idea box. So again, I say, ‘go for it,’” Baker advises.
“We are a unique and blessed island. Sometimes, it takes an outsider to remind us of the great features about our island and the friendly people we are. At times we get so caught up in our day to day lives that we forget to enjoy the great features of our beautiful island.
“Go ahead, relax on your beach, hike your hills, spend the weekend at a hotel and do the activities that our tourist come to this island to do. Take a boat trip around the island or to a neighbouring island, or take a sunset cruise.
“Although the majority of our guests at Baker’s Suites Boutique Hotel are from the USA, we do have many locals that would come and reward themselves with a weekend stay at our hotel. Here we would take the opportunity to encourage them to enjoy the hidden treasures of St. Maarten,” Baker’s Suites Boutique Hotel Managing Director Anastacio Baker concludes.
This profile is one out of eight as part of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau Caribbean Tourism Month awareness campaign.