La Samana located on the beach of Baie Long, the only hotel five hotels in the French side, will not reopen for the 2020-2021 season due to the health crisis. The announcement was made Friday morning by the president of the tourism club at the start of the plenary session of the territorial council; Patrice Seguin had asked the president of the Collectivity to be able to speak in order to "take stock of tourism in the territory".
The hotel establishment belonging to the Belmond group made this decision because it had not been authorized to welcome American customers. As a reminder, nationals of the United States are not allowed to enter Europe, including Saint-Martin, because the United States is on the list of countries at risk of covid-19. "We had alerted the institutions but the lack of response from the ministries did not allow the hotel to reopen," said the tourism club.
Patrice Seguin also confirmed "the definitive closure of the Carimo agency" and the uncertainty of the future of the Secrets hotel in Anse Marcel.
The tourism club regrets that no common strategy and no health protocol on both sides of the island has been able to be put in place for the next tourist season. "The hope of a tourist recovery is postponed until the end of 2021", commented the tourism club.
For his part, Daniel Gibbs considers the situation "lamentable" and regrets that no solution has been found despite the many meetings held in recent months. He does not understand either why the state prohibits accommodation providers from welcoming Americans when "they, arriving at Juliana airport, can cross the border to come to our restaurants and walk in our streets without control" . (soualigapost.com)
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