Celebrating 50 Years
The St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association celebrates half a century of commitment.
Like any successful organization, the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA) has flourished by adapting to the inevitable changes that life brings.
The group was founded as the St. Maarten Hotel Association in 1970 by two hoteliers who proposed that hotels work together, not separately, to boost tourism throughout the whole of the Dutch-French island.
Because the island is shared by two nations with distinct styles and cultures, not to mention languages, business procedures and laws, it was perhaps inevitable that tourism efforts eventually would operate independently. That is what happened in 1975, although both sides continued to cooperate for the common good.
Tourism continued to grow, but it became apparent to the SHTA that the hotel aspect was not the whole picture. There were time-shares, restaurants, yacht clubs and travel links to consider. So in 1991 the organization remodeled itself to become the St. Maarten Hotel and Tourism Association, a nonpolitical, nonprofit entity.
The concept was developed further in 1998 when the group renamed itself the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association. This reflected the growing realization that tourism efforts must consider all aspects of life here. In 1999, SHTA launched its website, www.shta.com.
In 2004, SHTA took an awareness program into the schools to give students a better understanding of the importance of tourism. Two years later came “The Vision: A Work in Progress,” which spelled out the vital elements of education, the environment, the economy, employment, cost of living, traffic and safety and security.
Recent years have seen the island adapt to meet the growth of cruise tourism. Ship arrivals have not increased that much in frequency, but more and more passengers descend on the island in one fell swoop.
While the history books will show that hurricanes are significant markers in our story, just as important is the response to these natural phenomena, with the unprecedented ferocity of 2017’s Irma having been matched by St. Maarten/St. Martin’s determination to rebuild quickly and come back better than ever.
The development of SHTA reflects changing attitudes and an increased awareness of the responsibility we must all take for the welfare of our part of the world.
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The St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA) has celebrated a number of milestones over the past 50 years. Here’s a glimpse at just a handful of these moments.
1970
The SHTA was founded as the St. Maarten Hotel Association (SHA) on St. Maarten.
1975
In 1975 the Dutch and the French parted ways and continued working together as separate hotel associations.
1991
The SHA changed its name to SHTA (St. Maarten Hotel and Tourism Association) and was founded as a nonpolitical, nonprofit organization.
1998
The SHTA changes its name to St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association, enabling the SHTA to become a representative of the total private sector — not just a hotel association.
2000
SHTA’s Dollar-A-Day program was introduced. Guests at participating properties are asked to contribute $1 per day of their stay to the fund, which helps finance product development, educational and environmental programs, as well as destination marketing and research.
2005
The SHTA’s official in-room publication, Experience St. Maarten/St. Martin (now called Visit St. Maarten/St. Martin) was launched.
2016
SHTA qualified to become a member of the Caribbean Employer Confederation (CEC) and the International Organization of Employers (IOE) at the International Labor Organization (ILO).