The guide helps hospitality leaders and professionals navigate workforce change, develop teams and apply AI responsibly across operations

MIAMI, Fla.:---  As businesses navigate evolving workforce needs, artificial intelligence (AI) presents new opportunities to strengthen productivity, develop talent and support operations. Realizing that potential, however, requires businesses to prepare their people to use AI effectively and responsibly. The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) is helping the region's hospitality and tourism businesses do just that with the release of the AI Workforce Transformation Guide for Caribbean Hospitality: Practical Strategies for People Management, Learning and Leadership – the third edition of its AI Guidebook Series.

This practical resource gives hospitality leaders and professionals guidance and tools to prepare their teams, strengthen leadership, and integrate AI responsibly into daily operations. It builds on CHTA's ongoing work to help the industry understand and adopt emerging technologies, with a specific focus on the workforce implications of AI and how hospitality businesses can navigate changes to jobs, skills and people management.

“AI presents an important opportunity for Caribbean hospitality, but its value will ultimately depend on how our industry uses it to support its people and strengthen its businesses,” said CHTA President Sanovnik Destang. “This guide is designed to help our members move from understanding AI to applying it responsibly: improving productivity, supporting their teams, and preserving the warmth and personal connection that define Caribbean hospitality.”

Structured in two complementary parts, the guide explores AI’s impact on the hospitality workforce and provides practical tools to help leaders put that understanding into action.

Part I: Understanding AI in Workforce Transformation examines how AI is reshaping hospitality jobs, skills, and workforce management, and the leadership, ethical, and governance considerations businesses need to navigate its adoption responsibly.

Part II: An Implementation Guide: Turning Strategy into Action equips leaders with ready-to-use templates, including an ethical AI charter, a bias audit protocol, a vendor scorecard, a pilot plan, and an ROI calculator, along with implementation roadmaps, checklists, case studies, and sample policies for putting AI to work in daily operations.

Access the Guide

A preview of the AI Workforce Transformation Guide for Caribbean Hospitality, featuring selected insights and information on the new edition, is available at https://caribbeanhotelandtourism.com/chta-today/chta-publications-ai-guidebook/. CHTA members can access the complete guidebook, including its implementation resources and practical tools, through the CHTA member portal.

To learn more about CHTA membership and access the association’s growing portfolio of industry resources, visit http://www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com/membership or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

PHILIPSBURG:--- Healthcare professionals from Sint Maarten, the Caribbean, and abroad will come together on 19 and 20 September for Breathe 2026: Advancing Respiratory Health, a multidisciplinary conference dedicated to strengthening respiratory care through education, collaboration, and knowledge exchange. The conference is accredited for 8 CME points.

Organized by the Pharmacy Association of Sint Maarten (PAS) and the Windward Islands Medical Association (WIMA), Breathe 2026 will bring together physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals for a program featuring local, regional, and international speakers.

Over a day and a half, the program will address tuberculosis and regional pathogen surveillance, RSV prevention, asthma and COPD, sleep apnea, acute respiratory emergencies, and the growing impact of Saharan dust, air quality, and climate change on respiratory disease. The program also looks beyond diagnosis and treatment to the realities of delivering better care, including medication adherence, patient education, cost-effective treatment, collaboration between pharmacists and physicians, and simulation-based training.

Breathe 2026 aims to strengthen collaboration across healthcare disciplines and translate current knowledge, regional experience, and international expertise into practical improvements in patient care.

Registration is open to healthcare professionals from Sint Maarten, the Dutch Caribbean, and the wider region. Visit the conference website for the full program, speaker information, and registration.

Dates: 19–20 September 2026
Venue: American University of the Caribbean, Cupecoy, Sint Maarten
Website: https://breathe2026conference.netlify.app/
Media contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The conference is made possible through the support of:

Orange Pharma
Pharmastore
Windward Islands Bank
Winair
SZV
NAGICO
Sint Maarten Medical Center
Health Care Laboratory
Pineapple Pete
Karakol N.V.

PAS and WIMA gratefully acknowledge these sponsors and partners for their contribution to Breathe 2026 and their support of continuing professional education for the healthcare community.

Lyongo Architecture welcomes public input before designing a master plan for the Mullet Bay area

PHILIPSBURG:---  Share your vision for the future of the Mullet Bay area at the first public meeting. Architectural and urban design firm lyongo architecture is developing the Mullet Bay area masterplan and inviting the wider community to participate in an open public meeting.
The Mullet Bay area is entering an important phase of planning for its future. As part of the masterplan process, lyongo architecture is gathering input from a broad range of
stakeholders and community members. The goal is to understand the area's opportunities, challenges, qualities and needs, and to ensure that different perspectives are considered as the masterplan takes shape.

During the meeting, lyongo architecture will present its vision and approach for the future development of the area. This will be followed by an open conversation with the
community: what do you think are the important qualities of this area? And which opportunities, concerns or priorities should be addressed in the masterplan?

The meeting is open to anyone interested in the future of the Mullet Bay area, and we encourage you to attend and share your perspective.

Date: September 23, 2026
Time: 18:00 – 19:00
Location: Golf Shop, at the Golf Course on Rhine Road, Simpson Bay, St Maarten
The meeting is open to anyone who is interested. However, registration is required because
space is limited.

You can register via by sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
lyongo architecture looks forward to meeting the community while sharing your ideas,
perspectives, and aspirations for the future of the Mullet Bay area.

PHILIPSBURG:---  The Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) has published the names of touring-car and unregulated transport permit holders that successfully completed the 2026 Confirmation Letter Process.

The list was published on September 14, 2026, under publication number IETA-PT-CR-002. It includes operators verified by the Inspectorate of Economic and Transport Affairs (IETA) as of September 11, 2026.

Permit holders whose names do not appear on the list must contact IETA within two weeks of the publication date to confirm their operating status or complete any outstanding requirements.

The deadline is Monday, September 28, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.

Operators who have ceased operations or have not used their permits for more than six months must notify IETA in writing and provide a copy of their permit before the deadline.

Failure to respond could result in administrative action, including the temporary suspension or permanent revocation of the permit under Article 16(g) of the National Ordinance on Passenger Transport.

Touring-Car Permit Holders

The following 47 operators successfully completed the confirmation process:

1. Affordable Car Rental and Transportation — Rent-4-Less
2. Ash Touring and Private Transport Services
3. Bernard Tours
4. Business Transportation Corp N.V.
5. Catch a Lift B.V.
6. Celeb Tours SXM
7. Confidence Transportation B.V.
8. Corporate Transportation
9. Daytona Tours N.V. — Just For You Car Rental
10. Delisle Walwyn St. Maarten B.V.
11. Flamboyant Tours’N Transfers
12. Island Sightseeing.Com N.V.
13. Island Trans N.V. — Island Transfer
14. Jimbo’s Transportation
15. Joyce Personal Services
16. Leo Tours
17. Lloyd’s Tours and Transfers
18. Manuel Rombley Island Tours
19. Motivation King
20. My Island Tour
21. Nature Tours
22. Ocean Island Tours N.V.
23. Paradise Flow
24. Quality Transportation N.V.
25. Rays Tours B.V.
26. Red Rose Transportation
27. Sanchez Transportation
28. Silverline Tours and Transportation
29. Speks Transportation Services N.V.
30. St. Maarten Amigo Tours N.V.
31. St. Maarten Exclusive Vacation Tour and Excursions
32. St. Maarten Pelican Transportation and Tours B.V.
33. Stan the Man Tours N.V.
34. Sunita Tours
35. Sweet Escape Yacht Services N.V.
36. SXM Safe and Reliable Tours
37. SXM VIP Accessible Transportation B.V., doing business as St. Maarten Disability Tours, Jolly’s Tours, SXM VIP Accessible Transportation and Access A Ride St. Maarten
38. Thomas Transportation B.V.
39. Touch of Paradise
40. Twin Island Excursions N.V. — Trans1One
41. Valando Tours & Transfers Service
42. Vertilus Touring Company
43. Williams Inc Services B.V.
44. Xaro N.V.
45. Gold Star Express
46. Friendly Island Activities and Gift Shop
47. VIP Destination Services N.V.

Unregulated Transport Permit Holders

The following operators were listed as having completed the confirmation process:

1. Affordable Car Rental and Transportation — Rent-4-Less
2. Bernard Tours N.V.
3. Business Transportation Corp N.V.
4. Confidence Transportation B.V.
5. Dutch Tours Enterprises
6. Full Hundred Construction/Trucking Mobile Services
7. Island-Sight Seeing.com N.V.
8. Jimbo’s Transportation
9. Silverline Tours and Transportation B.V.
10. St. Maarten Amigo Tours N.V.
11. Stan the Man Tours N.V.
12. Thomas Transportation B.V.
13. Twin Island Excursions — Trans1One
14. Xaro N.V.
15. Affordable Car Rental and Transportation — Rent-4-Less

The official document lists Affordable Car Rental and Transportation — Rent-4-Less twice under the unregulated transport category. SMN News has retained the list as published rather than removing or altering the repeated entry.

TEATT emphasized that inclusion on the list is not an endorsement, certification, recommendation, or assessment of any business's quality. It only confirms that the listed operator completed the administrative requirements as of the verification date.

Operators who submitted documents after publication, submitted incomplete information, or still had applications under review may be included in a later publication.