Commenting on the article, Director of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, Regina LaBega said, "This is wonderful news. It is important in substantiating the need to immediately execute a campaign in Puerto Rico to support the Insel Air and additional American Eagle flights to and from that destination."
She stressed that "particularly during this ‘low season', tapping into the Puerto Rican market where nothing seems to dampen the desire of the people to travel, will assist in making St. Maarten a truly year-round destination."
The poll, conducted jointly by Caribbean Business, WOSO radio and Gaither International, asked a sampling of 1,000 respondents in face-to-face interviews if they had traveled abroad recently. A surprising 79% answered "Yes" while only 19% replied "No". The statistical margin of error is +/- 3.2%.
Explaining that respondents generally considered traveling to the mainland United States and the US Virgin Islands as "traveling abroad", Beatriz Castro, research analyst for Gaither International, pointed out that the results of the survey are consistent with the findings of a similar poll last year.
Older Puerto Rican residents seem to have traveled more abroad than the younger ones, according to this year's polls, with 83% of those 55 and above indicating that they have done so against 76% of those in the 35 to 52 age bracket, and 71% of those under 35.
Out of all the respondents, one quarter (25%) had visited the Dominican Republic, 10% other Caribbean islands, and 6% had gone to Europe.
Also, the poll found that the more educated the respondents, the more likely they are to have traveled abroad, with almost 90% of college graduates stating that they had traveled abroad recently, while 78% of high school graduates and 65% of high school dropouts had done so. This result coincides also with the socio-economic levels of the respondents.
"In all instances, the higher the socioeconomic level of the respondent, the more likely is to have traveled to any destination," the Gaither International analyst stated.
"All these indicators will certainly help our representative firm in Puerto Rico to come up with an effective strategy for targeted marketing to attract more Puerto Ricans to visit St. Maarten," noted LaBega, who added that the necessary marketing funds are essential in facilitating such efforts in a market she describes as "full of potential."
