Today Newspaper St. Maarten

Inter-island tourism talks focus on information booths and immigration pre-clearance

St. Maarten – The November 30th inter-island meeting between the tourist offices of St. Martin, St. Maarten, Anguilla, and St. Barths hosted Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) focused mainly on making tourist information booths available at PJIA and the possibility of immigration pre-clearance for the hub islands. The discussions, which were chaired by managing director of the Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company Regina LaBega, were held in an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual assistance.
The airport’s delegation told the meeting they’re willing to rent out space for the partners to put up the tourist information booths for the hub islands in the arrival hall beyond immigration where the public telephones are currently situated. The telephones will be moved to other locations in the baggage claim area and the design for the booths is being finalized.
The inter-island pre-clearance project, which is in its beginning stages, will enable passengers bound for Anguilla, St. Barths, Saba, and St. Eustatius to go through the respective immigration controls at PJIA, making it unnecessary for them to do so upon arrival on those islands. Justice Minister Roland Duncan came in for high praise for his endorsement of this initiative which will save passengers time and generate additional revenue for the airport.
The hub function of the Princess Juliana International Airport was also stressed at the meeting with accent being placed on the hub function being critical in the development of the airport’s expansion plans and in attracting new airlines.
Parties left the November 30th meeting committed to meeting again in Anguilla later this month.