SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) – Sunwing Travel Group purchased the former 257-room Great Bay Beach Resort & Spa from the Maho Group with the plan to start operations as of November 1, 2017, however, hurricane Irma struck the destination in early September severely damaging the property which led to the buildings being torn down and the property cleared.
Sunwing Travel Group in 2017 stated that it was committed to the redevelopment of the resort. In September 2018, the Sunwing Travel Group indicated that it would construct a 450-deluxe room Planet Hollywood resort.
The Sunwing Travel Group according to Wikipedia is a privately-owned travel company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The group operates an airline, three tour operators, a retail chain, a vacation club, and destination management company.
Calgary, Canada-based WestJet has received the okay from the Government of Canada to purchase Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations. The question that comes to mind is, what is the situation with the Great Bay property in Philipsburg after this merger? Does the Sunwing Travel Group still own the prime piece of property in Great Bay or was it part of the sale to WestJet?
The deal of WestJet wanting to purchase Sunwing was first announced in March 2022.
According to reports, under the agreement, WestJet will create a new tour operator section headed by Sunwing Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hunter that would include Sunwing Vacations and WestJet Vacations but as separate brands.
WestJet and Sunwing Travel Group have been providing weekly seasonal flights to Sint Maarten for a number of years.
The merger of the two aviation and tour companies will add 18 Boeing 737s and 2,000 employees to the WestJet Group.
WestJet is the second-largest airline based in Canada after Air Canada. In 2018, WestJet carried over 25 million passengers making it the ninth-largest airline in North America.
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