The office of Minister Raphael Boasman on Thursday acknowledged that vacationstmaarten.com is currently offline, a situation the Minister recently met after taking office.
Initial inquiries by the office of the Minister to the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau indicates that the central problem is one of outstanding funds pending for the marketing firm in charge of maintaining the site.
As soon as the cabinet of the Minister was made aware of the situation this week, efforts commenced to address the situation post haste, including acquiring a detailed explanation about how the situation got to this point.
At the moment it is premature to discuss or divulge how the situation will be addressed, but the public can be assured that it is of utmost priority and steps will be taken to ensure there isn’t a re-occurrence with any of the country’s marketing firms.
Proper marketing of the destination in collaboration with partners and stakeholders is a priority for the administration and everything will be done to ensure that our marketing vehicles are well supported by government in a timely manner.
A report will be compiled regarding this incident and presented to the Council of Ministers and Parliament