MARIGOT--If anyone had doubts about St. Martin's roots and culture, or ability to deliver, they were laid to rest by a riveting cultural performance that held 200 or so delegates spellbound during the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation's (CTO's) inaugural State of the Industry Conference last night.
The cultural performance by the Imbali Dancers, Capoeira Dancers, An La Ri La, Bottleneck Boys, and Imbali stilt walkers was beautifully executed and matched by a masterful display of steel pan playing by the Mighty Dow who was clearly in his element.
The show capped a very impressive opening ceremony, despite a late start for which President Frantz Gumbs took responsibility due to his own late arrival.
White tents, red carpets and hostesses set the scene on a transformed parking area of Marina Fort Louis as delegates arriving for the opening ceremony were welcomed with champagne.
Government dignitaries of both the French and Dutch sides occupied the front rows along with CTO executives.
The ceremony began with the Explorateur Scouts carrying the flags of all 33 CTO member countries up the centre aisle between the rows of delegates. One by one each flag was brought onto the stage.
The anthem of St. Martin was then sung by Mala�ka Maxwell with accompaniment by Fabien Charbonnier. Both work at the St. Martin Tourism Office.
The opening address was given by St. Martin Tourism Office President Ida Zin Ka Ieu, followed by St. Maarten Minister of Tourism Franklin Meyers and St. Martin President Frantz Gumbs.
CTO Council of Ministers Chairman Richard Skerritt thanked the French-side hosts for organising the event and remarked that it was very pleasing to see both French- and Dutch-side officials present, as CTO's mission was "to bring the Caribbean together with this conference."
"Another good reason for coming to St. Martin is because we really have a microcosm here of what the Caribbean represents," he said.
Touching on the theme of the conference "Winning in a competitive environment," he said it was very appropriate, as the region was competing for visitors more and more with other destinations all around the world.
"The modern visitor is a discriminating destination traveller who seeks our islands beyond just the hotels, but expects at least that hotel services are up to international standard. The issue therefore is very much a joint public and private one. Standards have to be raised everywhere.
"The economic recession has driven visitors to seek more value for money than ever before. The challenge is not only to attract the potential traveller to the Caribbean, but we also have to deliver a world class product."
Stressing that the traveller "will tell the world via social media of his experience," he said, "That's why we need a very strong commitment to service excellence throughout the Caribbean."
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