2025 established as new baseline year for arrival statistics

(𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 1 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴' 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦.)

GREAT BAY--The Government of St. Maarten has designated 2025 as the new baseline year for reporting stayover arrival statistics, following a major upgrade to the immigration data processing system. As a result of this transition, comparisons with data from previous years are not methodologically sound, given that prior systems relied heavily on manual data entry and post-processing to estimate visitor arrivals.

In November 2024, the Immigration and Border Protection Services (IBPS), in partnership with the Department of Statistics (STAT) and Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company (PJIAE), implemented an automated system that classifies travelers in real time and reduces reliance on manual input. The result is more accurate and reliable arrival data, aligned with international standards, such as those adopted by the United States through its Automated Passport Control (APC) systems.

The updated approach improves consistency and eliminates prior challenges in separating residents from visitors at the point of entry. With the new system now excluding residents by default, historical comparisons require adjustment. To maintain some continuity during this transition, STAT, on the advice of PJIAE, used adjusted 2024 arrival figures as a provisional benchmark. This involved removing 10% from total airport arrivals to estimate the number of non-resident travelers, a deduction based on a decade’s worth of historical data from the Immigration Office.

While PJIAE’s system has not traditionally served as the primary source of visitor arrival data due to its aggregated reporting format, it provided a reasonable and practical proxy during the transition period. Without this adjustment, 2025 statistics could only be presented as standalone figures, lacking any contextual baseline for year-over-year assessment.

The upgraded system not only improves data accuracy but also enhances cross-agency coordination and lays the groundwork for more informed policy and planning decisions in sectors such as tourism, public safety, and disaster response.

As the government continues to modernize its data systems, the Department of Statistics will use 2025 data as the standard reference point for all future reporting on visitor arrivals by air.

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