"While we're ecstatic about our win we cannot lose sight of who helped us achieve this feat, so we're showing appreciation to passengers, workers and partners," said PJIAE Interim Manager Mr. Larry Donker.
Arriving passengers this weekend will be presented gifts by airport personnel. "As a thank you for believing us when we're saying that St. Maarten is the destination to visit, we're presenting them with a token of appreciation," said Mr. Donker.
At the annual Routes conference that was wrapped up on Tuesday February 15th in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, PJIAE came out as overall winner in the category South Central Americas & Caribbean. A route development forum for airline, airport and tourist authorities, it was the first time Routes Americas, was held in the Caribbean. It was organized by Routes and hosted by Aerodom.
PJIAE had been nominated for the award by airlines that service St. Maarten; the airport's marketing activities, the marketing research, its joint communication campaigns with third parties, and its innovative use of technologies or techniques to support airlines, were all considerations. To win, PJIAE was required to highlight our efforts in a 1,000 word presentation, which made mention of the construction of the airport's terminal building, its attendance and hosting of international aviation conferences, its inventive local marketing strategies and its airlift development and international marketing efforts that are being undertaken in collaboration with the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau.
Mr. Donker commended PJIAE's personnel. "This is a collaborative achievement, in more ways than one," he said, explaining: "It shows again that the workers at our airport are truly second to none; and the airlines have recognized that. But also, from the moment we were notified of our nomination, the Marketing & Communications Department spared no efforts to make sure our presentation was of the caliber that wins."
He also expressed congratulations to the community of St. Maarten. "This is not just PJIAE's victory, but St. Maarten's," he said. He also thanked PJIAE's airline partners for their continued belief in the airport. "We're honored that the airlines nominated us. In truth this is their win too, because they are our partners and our win is ultimately their win too," he said.
