PHILIPSBURG:--- Destination: St. Maarten/St. Martin was well represented by the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau (STB) at the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) 2024. At this year's convention, STB, represented by Cherinah Franken - Head of Product Development & Visitor Relations, and Rosette Generlette-Pantophlet, Secretary & Product Development Assistant, hosted an interactive and informative workshop for 100+ travel agents, eagerly anticipating poignant selling points to promote destination St. Maarten among their customers and associates. Themed "EXPERIENCE Sweet St. Maarten/St. Martin," this immersive workshop was facilitated by IMBRACE Group's CEO, Jacqueline Louis, with supporting performances by Funtopia's cultural ambassadors.
All core aspects of St. Maarten's tourism products were passionately shared with conference attendees through a multi-sensory presentation. This included using vibrant visuals, rhythmic local music, cultural singing, and dancing, along with a sweet and savory taste of Colombier Guavaberry and tarts. Strategically designed to awaken the minds, souls, hearts, and spirits of all participants, compelling information regarding the destination of St. Maarten was uniquely intertwined. The details ranged from the local history, geography, culture, and ecology - including beaches and St. Maarten's diverse landscapes, agriculture, and adventures, to cruise ports, hotels, restaurants, transportation, events, and activities, as well as the countless sites to see, things to do and places to go on the island.
Furthermore, STB's participation included an on-site display booth that showcased the destination to thousands of Conference attendees at the Broward/Fort Lauderdale Convention Center. Direct one-on-one interactions and ongoing networking also promoted St. Maarten by providing pertinent information to busloads of inquisitive participants.
Working seamlessly together, Team St. Maarten successfully achieved the desired objectives, which included raising awareness and inciting the desires of travel agents to visit and explore destination St. Maarten personally. Many conference attendees expressed their inspiration and enthusiasm to keep the island at the forefront of their minds by encouraging CLIA's wide-ranging global membership and their respective customer bases to vacation on the island.
Internationally recognized as the only official conference of the cruise industry, CLIA Cruise360 brings together travel professionals, cruise line representatives, ports, destinations, industry suppliers, and CLIA-preferred partners for a truly panoramic view of the cruise industry. The CLIA community includes the world's most prestigious ocean, river, and specialty cruise lines; a highly trained and certified travel agent community; and widespread industry stakeholders, including ports & destinations, ship development, suppliers, and business services.
CLIA represents 95% of the world’s ocean-going cruise capacity and 54,000 travel agents, including 15,000 of the largest travel agencies in the world. Jointly, CLIA's membership encompasses the world's largest cruise industry trade association, which provides a unified voice and leading authority of the global cruise community. CLIA supports policies and practices that foster a secure, healthy, and sustainable cruise ship environment, promoting positive travel experiences for more than 30 million passengers who have cruised annually.
