By the Caribbean Journal staff

It’s one of the Caribbean’s busiest cruise destinations – but when the ships depart and the sun goes down, Philipsburg, St Maarten tends to get quiet.

A new project is looking to change that, however.

Set to begin for the Christmas season, “Philipsburg Alive After Five” is looking to motivate residents and tourists to visit downtown Philipsburg and encourage afternoon shopping in stores and dining in the town’s eateries.

The project will include lighting up parts of Front Street, the area around the Court House, Cyrus Wathey Square, and the Boardwalk Promenade.

The initiative, which is the brainchild of the Philipsburg Promotional Board, will begin Dec. 1.

“I applaud this initiative by PPB, and I appeal to the business community in Philipsburg to contribute to this as it will bring more people into town during the festive season which will have a spinoff for the various business establishments that operate within Philipsburg,” said St Maarten Tourism Minister Stuart Johnson.

“The more business activity that is generated the better for our businesses and the economy,” he said.