The pace of development in the stay- over tourist sector was matched and quickly surpassed by that of the cruise sector resulting in St. Maarten being ranked among the top 10 ports of call in the world for cruise passengers in 2003 and in the top 5 in the Caribbean region in the same year.

Cruise tourism has been the major success story of tourism development on St. Maarten from its very beginning. In 2004, for example, the island experienced an 11.1% increase in stay-over arrivals compared to 2003 while it recorded a 15.1% increase in cruise passenger arrivals over the same period with 11.6% more cruise calls.

The 1.34 million cruise arrivals in 2004, which represented an increase of over 150% compared to a decade earlier, spent an average of US$95 per person for a total of US$140 million in that year alone. The cruise ship crews contributed US$10 million to that amount, while the yachting sector brought in some US$30 million. It is estimated that the marine sector may

have been responsible for another US$30 million.

Until 2009, the Harbor had one single pier - 545 m long along which four ships could berth simultaneously. Built facing the Caribbean Sea, with the rapid expansion of cruise tourism, this pier proved to be inadequate, leading to the St. Maarten Harbor Group of Companies, (SMHGC) building a second pier, 445 m in length. This made St. Maarten one of the few ports able to accommodate the world s largest cruise ships the Genesis-class vessels. These ships weigh over 220,000 gross tons each, with a capacity of over 6,000 passengers and crew. The additional pier - Pier 2 can accommodate two such vessels at a time. Pier 2 also boasts two booths for screening passengers resulting in faster disembarkation. In total, the harbor can hold up to 11 cruise ships, six of which can dock simultaneously at the two cruise piers.

The Cruise Sector

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