Minister Arrindell (left) with FCCA-President Michele Paige. Photo contributed
St. Maarten News – Minister Ingrid Arrindell (Tourism and Economic Affairs) met on Thursday in Miami with Michele Paige, the president of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA).
The FCCA is a not-for-profit trade organization composed of 19-member cruise lines operating more than 100 vessels in Floridian, Caribbean and Latin American waters.
The FCCA works with governments, ports, and all private/public sector representatives to maximize cruise passenger, cruise line and cruise line employee spending, as well as enhancing the destination experience and the amount of cruise passengers returning as stay-over visitors.
Minister Arrindell was introduced to Paige as the new shareholder representative of Port St. Maarten.
Arrindell informed Paige about the priorities for her ministry. She also discusses cruise figures, the Rain forest project, Zika, marketing and shore excursion concessions.
Minister Arrindell described the meeting as very informative and is looking forward to following up on a number of points.
“Tourism is the foundation of the Sint Maarten economy. I found it very important to meet with the FCCA-President to introduce myself as shareholder representative, but also to express our plans where it concerns cruise tourism and the overall tourism product,” Arrindell said in a press statement.
“This visit was also an opportunity to get updates about a number of matters. The FCCA and its member cruise lines are a strategic partner where it concerns our national economy, and we must continue to maintain a close working relationship in the interests of all,” Minister Arrindell said.
Participating in the meeting were Port St. Maarten Supervisory Board Chairman Humphrey Mezas and Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo.
Port St. Maarten accommodated 1,901,617 cruise passengers in 2015, and is the most popular cruise port in the Caribbean, the second year in a row according to Cruise Fever.net readers.
The FCCA was created in 1972 to provide a forum on tourism development, ports, safety, security and other cruise industry issues.
St. Maarten Tourism Minister Arrindell meets FCCA-President Paige
