Great Bay,– "St. Maarten is an easy sell," says Jared McAllister of the New York Daily News, one of a group of eight journalists drawn from various publications in the US and Canada, who recently visited the island courtesy of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau. The group was accompanied by Alexis Taggard of KTCpr, the marketing and PR firm that represents the island in the US market."This island is beautiful," remarked Catherine McElveen (freelance writer), stretching each syllable in "beautiful" like elastic. McElveen was on her first visit to the island, while McAllister says he had "lost count" of how many trips he has made here. "Obviously, I love St. Maarten," he said.
"Spectaacular," was how Felicia Persaud, a Guyanese-born, award-winning journalist, described the island. Ms. Persaud, editor of the influential Caribbean World News, had attended the official launch of St. Maarten's new branding strategy in New York before this her first trip to the island, hence her emphasis on the "aa" in "spectaacular".
For Simone Gent of Latina Style magazine, described as a "national magazine for the contemporary Hispanic woman," the press trip was not only insightful, but an eye-opener. "I was absolutely enchanted by the island," she said, adding that her story on St. Maarten will be published in the February/March 2010 edition of Latina Style. The magazine recently featured Justice Sonia Sotomayor – the first Hispanic woman to be appointed to the US Supreme Court - on its cover.
The group also included Melody Wren and Robin Tierney both of whom are freelance writers and did featured interviews with Ras Bushman of I-Tal Shack, and lauded his dedication to organic food.
Mrs. Wren also visited the I Can Foundation, where she took some gifts she had collected from students in Canada, especially for the children at the facility. She was full of praise and admiration for Ms. Cassandra Gibbs of the Foundation and promised to seek further assistance for the orphanage.
Alexis Lipsitz, who is working on a new edition of Frommers St. Maarten, said what fascinated her most about the island was the diversity it offered. "It's just incredible," she said.
One issue they all concured needed urgent attention is the traffic situation on the island. "Either there are two many cars or two few roads or both," observed Ms. Persaud while others agreed that the situation was "agonizingly frustrating".
Director of Tourism, Ms. Regina LaBega, said she was confident the island would reap substantial exposure from the visit of the US and Canadian journalists. "The significance of these press trips lies in the fact that the journalists can see for themselves and write their own stories from a lived experience. This has more credibility with their readers than an ad; it is priceless," she said.
Commissioner of Tourism, Frans Richardson, expressed full support for such press trips and stressed that "nothing beats a story written from the point of view of an eye-witness."
"These reporters who come to visit our islands get to see and feel for themselves the experience we call St. Maarten. They can then give their readers an eye-witness account. This is a very effective way to market the destination," he said.
The group spent what one of them called "an intensive long weekend" on St. Maarten from December 10 – 14, and participated in several activities after an extensive island tour. Some members of the group paid a courtesy call on the Today newspaper, while the whole group met with the island's leading poet/author and publisher, Lasana Sekou, who presented each one of them with samples of some of the publications of House of Nehesi.
"I couldn't have asked for more," commented Kim Samuelson of Cuisine at Home Magazine on learning that House of Nehesi Publishers will be bringing out a cookbook by Yvette's as one of its first titles for the New Year.
