SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - The most central section of the 2026 St. Maarten / St. Martin Annual Regional Tradeshow (SMART) has been allocated as "Small Hotel Plaza". Participation in this square of dedicated tall boy tables will be offered to hotels under 35 rooms and at a reduced price. Though prices for SMART are kept at a minimum already, the novelty is intended to allow even wider participation.
This was announced today by the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA) on behalf of the binational organizing committee, which includes the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau (STB), the Office du Tourisme (OdT), and the Club du Tourisme (CdT). Caribbean born hotel solution BookingSuccess will be partner of the in-event project.
The Saint Martin/Sint Maarten Annual Regional Trade Show (SMART) offers international and regional buyers the opportunity to meet and network with suppliers and other key tourism industry partners from St. Maarten / St. Martin, its neighboring Caribbean islands and beyond. Its June 22nd-26th 2026 edition will be the 18th time the event is held in 25 years.
SMART has historically always been well attended by small hotels; as the event is expanding its 2026 edition in both surface use and attendance, it has now been possible to add a dedicated space for this segment.
Previously, small hotels either chose a full or shared table. Now, compact tables are offered that still allow for hotel branding and benefits like one-on-one appointment making with the many travel agents and tour operators visiting the event, but offer a more affordable rate to the segment.
The concentration of small hotels on the central tradeshow floor location also allows "vendors" offering dedicated products and services to this sector to present their solutions alongside the square.
BookingSuccess' solutions are both applicable to hotels large and small, as well as excursion companies, but in their eyes the brand fits the connection to the Small Hotel Plaza especially well. CEO Robin Bunnik: "What we try to do as BookingSuccess is to reduce efforts for tourism companies to streamline booking processes including buyers abroad. It is often the smaller hotels and tourism companies that have difficulty dedicating time to put their product to market. Next to our accomplished product which with we visited SMART many years in a row, we will also focus on our new AI package for excursions. This way, we hope to contribute to both the instruments and future robustness of the Northeastern Caribbean tourism industry."
SMART 2026 opened "Chirp First Early Bird Season" on October 1st, a two month timeframe to allow participants to select a spot of choice on the expanded floor plan. This has resulted in over 50% of booths being allocated to interested hotels.
As space remains limited, the plaza is an experiment and will hold limited capacity. Given large demand even with a nine months runway still, SMART organizers urge to timely reserve a small hotel arrangement via info@shta.com.
The same counts for companies selling dedicated products and services for these hotels. Shared booths and larger booths will as always remain a "back-up" option should Small Hotel Plaza fill up swiftly.
https://www.soualiganewsday.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=63725:smart-2026-introduces-small-hotel-plaza-in-conjunction-with-bookingsuccess&Itemid=450
