PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Department of Immigration and Border Protection Service of the Ministry of Justice took part in a Service Excellence training that was initiated by both the IBP and the Department of Tourism.
At the start of the training session, Minister Ted Richardson provided some opening words to the officers of the INS.
"St. Maarten is 90% dependent on tourism; it consist of the environment, the people, the culture—all of the above. Thus it is important to look at the comprehensive picture and understand the idea of tourism well."
Minister Richardson also talked to the audience about not only those persons coming into to St. Maarten but also those persons here already, whom he said, excluding technical definitions, also contribute to the economy and St. Maarten society.
He added that there are two million tourists who come to St. Maarten, and with the population on St. Maarten being around 35,000, everyone has to contribute to a better St. Maarten product.
As such, the Minister commended all the participants for being at the training session and for them to learn as much as they can.
Geronimo Juliet, Head Border & Mobile Control, of Immigration and Border Protection Service provided some words of encouragement as well, saying that it is important, and a hard job, for Immigration officers to determine whether a person could enter and still be friendly. That balance has to be sought. It is not just about having manners, but about understanding the product of tourism, what tourism actually is, and their role as Immigration officers in this whole endeavor.
At the training session, representative of the Tourist Office, Marla Chemont outlined the function and operation of the office, which is: "to play a leading role in providing information and to be instrumental in developing the economy by means of diversification in industries which are complementary to our tourism based economy."
And the aim of the mission, Chemont said, "is to be the leading institution to develop policies that stimulate and facilitate sustainable economic development of St. Maarten, by means of providing analytical, objective, comprehensive and reliable information in a timely and professional manner."
Their main tasks are:
- Social-economic development planning
- The development of employment
- The development and stimulation of the various sectors of the economy
- To offer recommendations pertaining to the harbor, airport, utility companies and companies that provides transport and telecommunication facilities and services.
- The development of and offer support with the execution of economic regulations.
The Service Excellence training was facilitated by Dr. Ackentoolove Corbin, whose objectives as a whole for the group, were for there to be:
Understanding of hospitality & tourism from a global perspective, increase service quality delivery to clients, cope with challenging customers, work on teamwork, not forget the vision and mission from IBP, understand different types of customers, amongst other important factors.