The Little Engine Carrying a Big Economy: St. Maarten Tourism Outperforming Region

GREAT BAY--St. Maarten’s tourism sector is recording one of its strongest performances in the Caribbean, with air arrivals up more than 21 percent through July, cruise arrivals increasing approximately 14 percent, and tourism-related tax revenues climbing sharply, even as the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau (STB) continues to market the destination with a comparatively limited budget.

Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication Grisha Heyliger-Marten highlighted the performance during Thursday’s public debate on the draft 2026 National Budget, pointing to the results as an example of what she has described as TEATT’s “little engine that could” approach: carrying a major economic responsibility with limited resources while continuing to move the country forward.

For January through July 2026, St. Maarten welcomed almost 100,000 more air visitors than during the same period in 2025, representing growth of more than 21 percent. Cruise arrivals were also approximately 14 percent higher.

The Minister said the growth is being reflected not only in visitor numbers, but also in Government revenue. Hotel room tax revenues increased by 15 percent, generating approximately Cg. 1.5 million more, while car rental tax revenues increased by more than 60 percent.

According to Heyliger-Marten, regional data from Tourism Analytics places St. Maarten among the strongest-performing Caribbean destinations in year-on-year stopover growth.

“Many Caribbean destinations are experiencing tourism growth, and that is positive for the region. But St. Maarten is not simply growing with the Caribbean, we are outperforming many of our regional competitors,” she told Parliament.

The performance is particularly notable when viewed against the resources available for destination marketing.

Of TEATT’s approximately Cg. 41.2 million operational budget for 2026, only about Cg. 3.8 million is specifically allocated to tourism marketing and promotion. The Ministry’s total allocation itself represents just approximately 6.4 percent of the national budget.

Heyliger-Marten said the figures demonstrate the need to understand the scale of TEATT’s responsibilities compared with the resources available to carry them out.

TEATT is responsible not only for tourism, but also economic affairs, transportation, telecommunications, civil aviation, maritime affairs, meteorological services, statistics, licensing, inspections, consumer protection and economic regulation.

Approximately Cg. 19.3 million, or nearly 47 percent of TEATT’s budget, is dedicated to personnel costs, while another Cg. 13.1 million falls under projects and activities, much of it tied to specific Country Package initiatives and external funding arrangements that cannot simply be redirected to other Ministry priorities.

Once personnel costs and earmarked expenditures are taken into account, Heyliger-Marten said TEATT has an actual material budget of approximately Cg. 8.74 million across its departments.

“That is a very large economic mandate operating with a very limited toolbox,” she said.

The Minister stressed that she was not highlighting the figures as an excuse, but to demonstrate why the Ministry must carefully prioritize spending, leverage external funding and partnerships, and ensure that initiatives are properly researched and designed before limited resources are committed.

“It means we have to stretch every guilder. We have to prioritize. We have to leverage Country Package funding, public-private partnerships and outside investment,” Heyliger-Marten said.

“Because when you have limited room for error, you cannot afford expensive mistakes.”

From More Visitors to More Value

While celebrating St. Maarten’s tourism performance, the Minister said the next challenge is ensuring that growth produces greater value for the local economy.

“Our challenge now is to capitalize on this momentum, not simply by bringing more people to St. Maarten, but by increasing visitor spending, strengthening local businesses and ensuring that more tourism dollars remain within our economy,” she said.

“That is where our focus must now shift: from tourism growth to tourism value.”

The Minister said the strong tourism numbers also have to be viewed alongside the economic pressures residents continue to face.

Real GDP growth for 2025 was estimated at 3.4 percent, driven largely by strength in stay-over and cruise tourism, while inflation averaged approximately 0.92 percent for the year.

However, inflation accelerated sharply during the second quarter of 2026. Consumer prices rose 4.03 percent compared with the previous quarter and 5.45 percent compared with the same period in 2025.

Gasoline prices increased 38.37 percent during the quarter, the GEBE fuel clause rose 40.4 percent, transportation costs increased 16.32 percent and food and non-alcoholic beverages increased 1.94 percent.

The Consumer Price Index reached 120.45, meaning the average basket of goods and services costs approximately 20.5 percent more than it did in 2018.

Heyliger-Marten said those figures illustrate why positive GDP and tourism numbers cannot be the only measure of economic success.

“Economic growth and economic well-being are not necessarily the same thing,” she said.

While some inflationary pressures originate outside St. Maarten through global fuel prices, shipping costs, supply-chain disruptions and international developments, she said Government remains responsible for how it responds locally.

That includes monitoring prices, enforcing applicable legislation, strengthening the Maximum Price System and ensuring consumers receive timely and accurate information.

The Little Engine Carrying a Big Economy

Heyliger-Marten connected the tourism performance and TEATT’s budget limitations to the Ministry’s broader 2026 theme, “Forward by Design.”

She has repeatedly characterized TEATT as the “little engine that could,” reflecting a Ministry with a broad economic mandate, limited personnel and financial resources, outdated legislation and inherited backlogs that nevertheless continues advancing projects and reforms.

“The engine carries a tremendous amount of weight. The resources may be limited, but the responsibility is not,” Heyliger-Marten said.

“And despite that, the engine continues to move.”

She said TEATT’s task is ultimately to make every available guilder work harder, ensure investments are strategic and direct initiatives toward either strengthening St. Maarten’s existing economic base or creating new areas of economic activity.

“We may be a little engine, but we are being asked to pull a very big economy,” the Minister said.

For tourism specifically, the results through July provide a strong indication that St. Maarten continues to compete successfully for visitors in an increasingly competitive Caribbean market. The next phase, Heyliger-Marten said, must ensure that those visitors generate greater opportunities for businesses, workers and the wider community.

“Economic growth means very little if our people cannot feel its benefits in their everyday lives,” she said.

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