GREAT BAY-MARIGOT--St. Maarten/St. Martin has been named Caribbean Destination of the Year at the 12th annual Caribbean Travel Awards, marking a major milestone for the destinationโs tourism performance. Grisha Heyliger-Marten was also awarded Caribbean Tourism Minister of the Year, while Princess Juliana International Airport earned Caribbean Airport of the Year for the second consecutive year.
The Caribbean Travel Awards, launched in 2014, are selected by the editors of Caribbean Journal and span 41 categories recognizing destinations, experiences, and individuals shaping Caribbean travel. The announcement comes as regional tourism remains strong, with more than 35 million overnight visitors expected across the Caribbean in 2025 and an additional 38 million cruise passengers.
In naming St. Maarten/Saint Martin as Destination of the Year, Caribbean Journal editors cited the destinationโs culinary offering, growing airlift, diverse hotel product, and its unique identity as two countries sharing one island. Minister Heyliger-Marten, who took office in 2024, was recognized for her leadership during the destinationโs recent tourism resurgence and repositioning efforts.
In awarding the country this is what Caribbean Journal wrote:
"๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ: ๐๐ถ๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ต ๐๐ข๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ-๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ช๐ณ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ต ๐๐ข๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ท๐ช๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ฅ๐บ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐บ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ 2026 ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ."
โThis recognition is deeply meaningful because it reflects far more than a single achievement, it affirms the collective effort, discipline, and shared vision of our tourism sector,โ said Minister Grisha Heyliger-Marten.
โBeing named Caribbean Destination of the Year, alongside recognition for our airport and tourism leadership, confirms that when we plan with intention, invest strategically, and work in partnership, real results follow. This moment belongs to our people, our frontline tourism workers, our public-private partners, and every stakeholder committed to building a tourism economy that is resilient, inclusive, and designed to endure beyond any single cycle.โ
Princess Juliana International Airport was again recognized for its modernized terminals and its expanding role as a key air hub in the region. Together, the three awards highlight St. Maarten/Saint Martinโs standing as a leading Caribbean destination driven by connectivity, culture, and hospitality.
Caribbean Journal is a U.S.-based digital publication founded in 2011 that focuses on Caribbean travel and tourism news, hotel and destination coverage, and industry developments, with a readership described as primarily U.S.-based but global in reach. The outlet says it is among the most widely read Caribbean travel platforms, supported by a daily newsletter that OneCaribbean.org lists at more than 200,000 subscribers. Its audience footprint is also reflected in its social distribution, including a Facebook community of more than 420,000 followers.
โ
https://tribune-site.webflow.io//articles/st-maarten-st-martin-heyliger-marten-and-pjia-honored-with-caribbean-travel-award
