Tourism News

Saba attends OECS tourism meeting

Story and photo by Suzanne Nielsen and reprinted with permission of the Daily Herald.

October 11, 2006

Commissioner of Tourism Will Johnson and Tourism Director Glenn Holm attended last week's Organization of Caribbean States (OECS) tourism meeting on Puerto Rico. Saba is an associate member of the OECS.

The high point of the meeting was the opening of an OECS regional tourism office in Hato Rey, near San Juan. The three-room office is completely equipped and staff by Puerto Rico. Holm pointed out that Puerto Rico is a major embarkation point for Caribbean Cruises and it is very interested in improving the stops that these cruise liners make before they return to Puerto Rico.

The OECS tourism office is a major benefit for Saba and Holm went with business brochures, scenic posters, and a framed piece of Saba Lace so that there is plenty of information for travel agents in Puerto Rico. "Saba is definitely represented in the OECS Office," Holm commented.

Holm was very optimistic about the benefits of the regional effort and said that the group had been made to feel very welcome and he praised the Puerto Rican hospitality.

At every meeting, one of the islands does a presentation on its "Best Practices" and Holm will be preparing this talk, which will focus on the Saba Conservation Foundation and the National Marine Park. He said that the sharing between the twelve tourism directors was very valuable. "We all have similar problems, and the comparison of creative solutions helps all of us," Holm explained.

OECS membership is made up of the former British colonial islands in the Lesser Antilles. Other neighboring islands attend as associates, and Saba and St. Eustatius, but not St. Maarten, sent representatives to the meeting. The tourism group meets two times a year, and the next meeting will be in early 2007 on Grenada.

Photo: From left, Saba Tourism Director Glenn Holm, Director General of the OECS Dr. Len Ishmael, Saba Tourism Commissioner Will Johnson.

Click here for a larger version of the photo.


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