At the recent tourism conference in Anse Marcel, Les Fruits de Mer were happy to be a part of the working group that developed ideas and an action plan for promoting heritage-based tourism on the island. We believe that developing this type of tourism is crucial to both the local economy and the preservation of natural and cultural heritage on St. Martin. Economically, this growing segment of the tourist market can help drive sustainable growth as traditional mass tourism has largely matured, bring higher-value tourist visits and ensure that more of the revenue from tourism on the island goes to local businesses and stays in the local economy. It can also drive the preservation of local heritage because it depends on these assets. No outside investor can build an 18th-century fort on St. Martin or create a lizard that lives nowhere else.
You can read more about the workshop and the conference in the article below. What parts of St. Martin’s heritage do you think would make great tourism assets? How can we create events that help preserve local traditions, but also drive tourism revenues? How can education about local natural and cultural heritage prepare the youth of today for the heritage tourism careers of tomorrow?
If you’d like to share your ideas, feel free to post them here. If you’d like to help turn those ideas into reality, consider joining Les Fruits de Mer (https://www.lesfruitsdemer.com/about-us/membership/)