St Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport is reporting “positive trend” for the upcoming winter tourist season, according to officials. 

St Maarten first reopened its borders for international tourism in July, and arrivals are seeing an uptick, airport officials said in a statement. 

Most airlines have already restarted their routes to the Dutch Caribbean destination “and indicated that the demand for St Maarten is high compared to other Caribbean destinations,” the airport said. 

Since reopening, visitor arrivals to the airport grew “from 12 percent in August to 20 percent in October,” according to the report. 

So far in November, PJIA said it noticed “continuous growth in recovery,” while acknowledging the the global travel station remains “fragile, with increased lockdowns in Europe and a rapidly growing outbreak in the United States.”

“The numbers are nowhere near the levels PJIA needs for its business recovery, however it is promising to see a positive trend in passenger numbers,” airport officials said.

Indeed, many Caribbean destinations are showing an uptick in arrivals as their reopenings continue.

“While PJIAE was in hibernation mode, we appointed a Covid-19 Taskforce. The objective for the Taskforce was to implement all the necessary prevention and control measures to keep staff, the airport community, and our visitors safe,” said Princess Juliana International Airport CEO Brian Mingo. “This allowed us to reopen and run the airport in a safe way, allowing PJIAE and Sint Maarten to start its road to recovery.”

— CJ