film "I AM TOURISM" - Statia Tourism Awareness Campaign

Statia Tourism Awareness Campaign "I AM TOURISM"

As part of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) month of tourism, the St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation (STDF) will conduct a community tourism awareness campaign, with the theme “I am (Statia) Tourism”. Persons in the community will be given the opportunity to express their believes and commitment to the Statia tourism product. 

‘I am Tourism’ is the first of several which would go into effect in November month, again recognizing tourism month. It is intended that this awareness campaign be carried over for the next several months, whereby each month leading up to September next year, a different topic will be highlighted in the areas of sports tourism, agro-tourism, volun-tourism, heritage tourism, cultourism, community tourism etc.

The objective of the program is to create tourism awareness within the community getting citizens more tourism minded through stimulated activities and information, getting people involved and at the same time creating working relationships with the different stakeholders on the island. The film, “I am Tourism” was launched on November 12th, the opening of the Statia Day activities on Statia Radio Station PJB-50, 92.3FM on the by-weekly program FYI (for your information), occurring once a week. Our tourism product is exactly what we have to offer, and for that reason, throughout the next several months STDF will promote the different aspects of tourism existing on the island.

Tourism Week 2011 (TW2011) was the best ever!

World Tourism Day was celebrated on September 27 2011 and the theme was Tourism-Linking Cultures. Every year the St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation STDF organizes a week of activities to commemorate ‘World Tourism Day’. A full week of activities was planned for the community from September 19 through September 24 2011.

Monday 19:
Official opening at Fort Oranje with the singing of the anthem, a speech by the Commissioner of Tourism Mr. Clyde van Putten, followed by performances by each of the four elementary schools.

Tuesday and Wednesday 20 + 21Various schools go on fieldtrips to the Nustar Terminals while others had educational lectures in their classrooms by various cultural groups.

Thursday 22Special exhibition at the Community Center on Rosemary Lane where various nationalities displayed their arts, craft, photos, national dishes etc. from their respective countries.

Friday 23
Unity Walk on heels. All 40+ nationalities residing on Statia were welcome to take part in this walk wearing their country’s t-shirt and flag. Over 400 students lined up along the route of the walk waving self-made flags from the various countries. The first male and female to reach the finish line wearing stiletto heels would be the overall winner of the event. Prizes were sponsored by Windward Island Airways (WINAIR) and the OLD GIN HOUSE.

Saturday 24 TW2011 ended with an elegant Wine&Cheese party at the Earnest Mike van Putten Youth Centre. The keynote speaker was Leon Stubbs from the Bahamas. Leon works as a Project Developer in the field of cultural tourism and he served as Director of the African American Heritage Society (AAHS), he is very active in the development of the Black Heritage Trail in the State of Florida.

On behalf of STDF, we say thank you to all the stakeholders who helped in making this week a great success, and we thank all the schools and the general public at large for their support.

September 2011

MONDAY, OCTOBER 03, 2011

Statia Delegation off to Puerto Rico to attend the 18th Annual Cruise Conference and Tradeshow organized by the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association FCCA

In photo: Austin van Heyningen (Harbour Master), Clyde van Putten (then Comm of Tourism), Darlene Berkel (then Investment Officer) & Charles Lindo (Director of Tourism).

Statia 35+ basketball team off to Suriname

Statia participates for the second time at CuraSur. Local basketball delegation, consisting of twelve (12) players over the ages of 35, departed the island on October 13, 2011, onward to Suriname to join the 4th annual CuraSur Masters Basketball Tournament. Team Statia are as follows; Carlos Lopes, Carlos Spanner, Koki Tolentino, Ricardo Duggins, Ernol Spanner, Marlon Hook, Ernan Tatem, Alex Tatem, Gerald Berkel, Gerard Berkel, Sherman Wilmans and Clarence Cornet. Travelling along with the team are members of the Basketball Association and a few supporters.