Dear Editor,

As a trained hotelier and restaurateur who saw St. Maarten's tourism in its heyday I am saddened by what I see now as arguably a dilapidated industry with subpar hotels and timeshare resorts, restaurants lacking in quality and service, traffic jams, crime and drugs, and the Caribbean shopping we were known for, all but gone. Some question the friendliness on the "Friendly Island." Our children are leaving school and not getting jobs. Most end up getting involved in nefarious activities.

Back in the mid-to-late sixties, tourism on St. Maarten grew through word of mouth and some smart marketing from the pioneer hotels: Mullet Bay, Divi Little Bay, St. Maarten Isle Hotel (Great Bay Resort), Concorde Hotel (Maho Beach Resort), and a few other small hotels.

Mullet Bay Beach Resort was the Cinderella of the St. Maarten tourist product and one of the largest in the Caribbean. It advertised in the New York Times: "Discover Mullet Bay discover St. Maarten," amongst other catchy ads. Its service was simply excellent. Crime at that time was almost nonexistent on the island.

Mullet Bay was known as the training ground for hoteliers. Many of us were privileged to work there with people like Herb Mercer, Helmut Schmidt, Heinz Graf Polki, Jimmy Esposito, Gunther Muller, Augusto Marini and Bobby Bower amongst others; people of the highest pedigree, calibre and training who passed on their knowledge and expertise to many locals. Later many locals left Mullet Bay to become general managers and assume other responsible positions in other companies. It was said that these people, that once worked at Mullet Bay, could work anywhere because of the extensive training they had received there.

The prosperous trend in tourism continued into the 1980s and mid-1990s with a booming economy and long, healthy seasons and upscale clientele. The timeshare industry was growing and the resorts island-wide were doing well. But with this growth, St. Maarten began to change dramatically from a classy "Friendly Island" into a mass tourism destination and worse yet an unregulated timeshare industry and an island where crime has become an almost everyday occurrence.

As a result of the above-mentioned factors and more, affluent guests began leaving the "Friendly Island." Many new visitors from the US and Europe, who also experienced some aspect of crime, left never to return. Who could blame them? Sun, sea, fun and good food without crime, traffic jams and harassment from OPCs (off property consultants) could be found elsewhere.

Recently, our prime minister was quoted in the media, saying drastic action is needed to tackle crime. This drastic action is long overdue. Apart from the crime situation, our accommodations have deteriorated; Mullet Bay has been closed for some 16 years, courtesy of Hurricane Luis; the timeshare industry is having problems, thanks to the Pelican issue and others; and we continue to lose many stay-over visitors.

It was promising to hear Member of Parliament Jules James ask St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association, and the Timeshare Association to put some emphasis on identifying local individuals for additional training. It is time that we step up as a people to show that commitment to make St. Maarten friendly and economically strong again. But to do so, our government must step up and empower our people.

The biblical phrase, "Am I my brother's keeper?" is very important here. We elect governments to represent us, to protect us, to defend us, to inspire us, to keep watch over us and most importantly to educate and empower us. Many St. Maarteners feel let down by successive governments. In other parts of the world, governments empower their people, and it should be the same here.

Through the years, the island has done well, but it is time that we upgrade the product St. Maarten – its basic infrastructure, electricity, water, and roads. But more importantly, we need trained St. Maarteners to take over the top positions in the hotels, timeshares sales offices, real estate offices, stores, restaurants etc. If this is not done, then tourism, St. Maarten's lifeblood suffers as a result. It will continue to do so unless drastic action is taken to train and develop its human resources.

Timeshare is a sustainable industry, but needs regulation from the government to protect the timeshare owner and worker. The following are some solutions I am proposing for the long-term sustainability of the tourist industry and for the wellbeing of the island, as a whole:

1. Create a "tourism authority," or "tourism board." So far we have done it haphazardly. There are a number of individuals who, under trying circumstances, have done a great job for St. Maarten. Regina Labega is a good example of one who has worked tirelessly for her country under trying conditions.

2. Develop a National Service Award for Excellence for all sectors of the industry.

3. Regulate the timeshare industry and put a freeze on timeshare resorts.

4. Develop a network of feeder roads to alleviate the traffic congestions.

5. Create a training and development centre or training school for the service industry.

6. Develop sports tourism, such as building a stadium for international soccer/cricket.

7. Tap into the British market and take advantage of the APD (airport passenger duty).

8. Redevelop the Mullet Bay property.

9. Place a limited moratorium on cars and a tax on all new vehicles.

10. Educate and empower locals/ residents through legislation.

11. Have more aggressive police patrols throughout St Maarten.

Clayton J. Felix