Interview with Grisha Heyliger-Marten, Minister for Tourism, Sint Maarten

24 Jun Interview with Grisha Heyliger-Marten, Minister for Tourism, Sint Maarten

Could you please introduce yourself and your role in the government and explain how you work for the people of Sint Maarten?

I got into politics about five years ago. In 2020, I was elected to parliament as part of a coalition government. Over the course of my term, I had the unique opportunity to experience various facets of parliamentary life. I started off as a member of the coalition and about a year and a half later, I became president of parliament. Another year after that, I transitioned to the opposition. This allowed me to gain a deep understanding of the different roles within parliament during my full term, which lasted from 2020 to 2024.

This time around, I made the decision to switch parties. After becoming an independent, I rejoined an old party I had supported years ago. I went on to win the election and, ironically, beat my old party in the process. Now, I’m serving as the Minister of Telecommunications and Transportation. Before entering politics, my background was in marketing. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in business administration and a Master’s in international business. For the past 15 years, I’ve worked in marketing, business management and event planning, which has given me a strong foundation in both business and strategic communication.

What would you say are the highlights of the island and what makes Sint Maarten different in terms of tourism?

Sint Maarten has over a hundred nationalities on the Dutch side, even though this side is only 16 square miles out of the total 37 square miles of the whole island. On this 16-square-mile portion, we have a diverse mix of cultures. We pride ourselves on being the ‘Friendly Island’ because we embrace everyone. Sint Maarten is truly a melting pot of the Caribbean, with people from all over the world calling it home. We often describe ourselves as “a little European, very Caribbean,” but now I can confidently say we are home to a rich blend of Caribbean cultures. You’ll find a mix of Trinidadian, Jamaican and other Caribbean cuisines here. You can visit a Trinidadian restaurant or a Jamaican one and experience the diverse culinary offerings that reflect our island’s cultural richness.

We are a place that welcomes everyone with open arms. What makes Sint Maarten unique, particularly on the Dutch side, is our vibrant nightlife. I often jokingly refer to us as the “City of the Caribbean.” We have everything from casinos to nude beaches. There are also three nudist hotels on the Dutch side. We’re a daring, party-loving island with a free-spirited vibe. If you were to compare us, you might think of a smaller Las Vegas. Our nightlife is wild and the food here is incredible. It’s so good that when I travel to places like New York or elsewhere, I’ll eat something similar and think, ‘this doesn’t compare to what we have back home.’ The gastronomic scene on the Dutch side, in particular, is remarkable. We’re spoiled with great food, great entertainment and an overall fantastic lifestyle that you don’t find anywhere else.

What are your projects for the coming year in the new airport terminal and what are your expectations for it?

We are busy doing a carrying capacity study for Sint Maarten, because in the next three or four years, we will have five or maybe seven new hotels available and the question is can we manage that with all the traffic? We’re also paying attention to the other airports around us. The idea of the prime minister and I is to get into U.S. customs preclearance. It’s a big endeavor. Sixty to seventy percent of our tourism is from the U.S. and Canada, then Europe, so expanding in non-American markets is something we want to consider.

Sint Maarten has been autonomous for 15 years. We need reforms, as we have had many unstable governments in the last 15 years. The first government fell in the first four years, but didn’t result in an election, so the situation remained unstable. Something that the parliament is considering and that we are looking at is creating a traffic authority and a tourism authority and privatizing these entities. Right now, we think that going more private will be good for these particular entities. We are also putting out a gaming authority. There is a lot of restructuring and reforms on the way. But something huge that’s going to be happening in Sint Maarten is the cannabis law, which will come out in Q1 or Q2 of 2025.

Back in the days prior to 2017, we used to do about 600,000 stay overs. We’re now getting back to those numbers. We’re looking at close to 400,000-500,000 by next year. Before Covid we also received two million cruise tourists yearly. We’re looking at 1.7 to 1.8 million by next year. We will be back at those big numbers very soon, but that means more cars, more buses, more taxis and more congestion, so we need to really find a balance. We’re growing, but we need to make sure that everything is done right. We can’t restrict, because 75-80 percent of our jobs come from tourism, but we need to balance.

Can you explain to our readers how you are positioned to attract cruise passengers and how you keep cruise lines coming back every year?

We just had the FCCA conference in Sint Maarten. We had over 100 executives and I met with all of them one-on-one to find out what we can do to facilitate them and to explain the ideas that we have for transforming Sint Maarten. Cruise tourism is transforming. They’re not looking to shop anymore, they’re not looking to just come and go on the beach. They want something engaging, they want entertainment, therefore we’re looking to make sure that our capital reflects that.

We’re busy making a whole transition, including zoning in Phillipsburg, restructuring and making it more welcoming. The port is also looking to expand with a whole new facility including a water park and hotel, which will be interesting. We want to become not just the friendly island, but also the entertainment island. This is right up my alley because entertainment is my background. How can I make Sint Maarten fun? Now I have a lot of room to come up with a marketing concept for my country. This is how we’re going to change it. We are going to be making some major changes in the coming few years. We need to grow up. We have a lot of growing up to do before we can become independent. It needs political will and fortitude.

On this subject, you are an advocate for full independence from The Netherlands. How do you see momentum behind Sint Maarten’s independence movement?

People are not ready for independence yet. We have to prepare them for it. We have to make them feel it. We would have to have a referendum for sure, but you need to have everything in place before you can do that. That’s why a lot of reforms, a lot of restructuring has to be done. People have to have faith again in the politicians. We have to set a good example for the others to follow and that takes a lot. It takes not only political will, but also a kind of integrity. It’s a long, long haul. The things that we are going to do in the next four years is to increase our national budget by 50 percent more and that could help the movement.

We have also neglected our education system and that’s where we need to focus and it’s on me to bring in the money. When I am able to increase the funds, I’m going to focus on education. Another thing that we have been neglecting is agriculture and food security, which falls under my responsibilities as well. We’re working on establishing an agriculture authority, our own agriculture department and working with regional countries, like St Kitts and Nevis which is only 20 minutes away by plane and see what we can do to trade. This in turn creates agrotourism, creates engagement and experiences. Eat the food that was grown in Sint Maarten, have a tour hike and eat local produce are areas that we’re looking at as well.

How can you work to unify the population behind something indisputably recognized as being from Sint Maarten?

We are working on creating a cultural script specific to Sint Maarten. The goal is to develop comprehensive training for everyone in the hospitality industry and this training will be mandatory. However, to make it effective, we need a unified cultural script. For example, if I ask anyone in the country what our local dish is, I’ll get several answers. This is the challenge of being a melting pot. We need to formalize our history and culture, ensuring that everyone speaks with the same voice. This is what’s currently missing in Sint Maarten and we’re actively working on it.
I’m also focusing on creating a full training program for our taxi drivers. Every single driver will be required to complete this training. Regarding the airport, there are still some projects to complete. For instance, they need to finish the Fixed-Base Operator project for private jets and a fuel farm needs to be built. There’s a lot of construction happening in that area as well. Personally, I will be focusing on increasing airlift from the European market, which is a key priority for me. There’s a lot of work being done, but we’re making progress on many fronts.

How are you working towards a greener and bluer economy and how can your local stakeholders be involved too?

We need to build capacity in the green economy. We’ll focus on food security and build our own agriculture department. In terms of the blue economy, we are widening the Simpson Bay Bridge so that it can bring in bigger yachts. It’s going to expand without taking too much effort. We were looking at doing the moorings in Simpson Bay Lagoon more because we don’t charge anything. We are looking at dabbling in blue bonds and green bonds. We’re looking to make an investment agency. We are of course trying to make it easy to do businesses in Sint Maarten to attract FDIs for foreign direct investments.

Reliable telecommunications are expected by the modern leisure and business travelers. Can you highlight some of the major selling points of the telecommunications network in Sint Maarten and how visitors can be assured of stability and reliability?

For the last couple years, since the hurricane, our government has owned the telecommunication company, TELEM. We had our own fiber optic cable from Puerto Rico to Sint Maarten called the SMPR, which we’re finally restoring after seven years. Once that is done, we are looking to get into 5G next year. Also, we are busy having discussions with Starlink and Elon Musk. Starlink is present in Sint Maarten, so if you’re a Starlink subscriber, you’ll have no issues here. The internet is not bad, but it could be better. With our fiber optic cable going back online, we’ll have a more seamless transition back. And then with 5G we should not have any issues.

You are in charge of the meteorological agency, which takes care of studies to prepare for hurricanes. As a government, how can you be more prepared?

We have a system called EDF, which is managed by a dedicated committee. This committee holds preparatory meetings every year, usually in April or May. During these meetings, everyone is assigned specific tasks and we create a detailed plan outlining who is responsible for what when a hurricane occurs. In Aruba, where hurricanes are less frequent, we serve as experts and provide guidance to others. We’re well-versed in hurricane procedures, including how to manage and bill for hurricane-related activities. Additionally, we have an alert system that sends notifications to civilians’ mobile devices in the event of a hurricane.

What are the opportunities for investors from the Miami area? How would you like to invite them to bring their expertise and their investment?

We are going to need assistance with agriculture, digital nomads and anything else that is digital. We need investment in major construction projects like condos. There is also banking and fintech. We’re looking to create our own national bank. We’re always open to new restaurants. We have over 300 restaurants here.

If you come to Sint Maarten, you can go to Saint Barts. That’s the sweet part about us. You can go there, it’s quiet, but if you want fun, it’s here. If you really want to take it easy, you go to Saint Barts or Anguilla and then you come back here for your fun. We’re working on a new commercial that we’re calling ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’. We’re noticing a lot of groups of girls coming to Sint Maarten and we want to capitalize on that. We want to show the different facets of Sint Maarten. You can come with a group, or you can come for conferences, or for a wedding and still have fun. We’re a well-known wedding destination as well.

If you haven’t experienced Sint Maarten yet, you’re missing out. Sint Maarten is unique. It’s not like all the other islands. Yes, we have the beaches. Yes, we have the sun. But there’s something about Sint Maartenthat makes people want to come back to feel the island’s energy. It’s a multifaceted place. You will always feel at home here. We have very little traffic. Just come and experience life in Sint Maarten experience, which is a little European and very Caribbean. We are just a two-hour flight away from Miami.