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In this November 2014 issue:
1. INTRO: Hello December!!!
2. PROMO: ARE YOU A TRAVEL AGENT?
3. ARTICLE: "IS THE GREAT TRAVEL RECESSION OVER?"
4. SPONSOR MESSAGE: Book Cheap Tickets Online At CheapoAir
5. NEWS ITEM: SeaSXM Starts Luggage Transfer Service To St. Barths
6. TRAVEL TIP: How To Get Group Discounts With AirSXM To St. Barths
7. AGENDA: Just Launched: Brand New Website for Let's Travel
8. ADVERTISEMENT: Book Our Speedboat Charters To St. Barths
9. CUSTOMER SERVICE: How To Book With AirStMaarten
INTRO:
Hello December!!!
Hello December.
Oh, how I have missed you so!!!
After the slow season months of September and October with even a hurricane visit from Gonzalo in October, followed by a stormy weekend to add insult to damage. But we survived and thanks to Thanksgiving weekend in November, we were able to mentally and physically prepare for the frenetic pace the December holiday season will bring with it when it comes handling flights and charters to and from St. Barths.
To reduce the stress factor of getting to St. Barths the same day together with your luggage, AirSXM is offering the specific service of
luggage transfers by speedboat in December to make sure no luggage gets left behind in St. Maarten.
Don't want to leave your St. Barths-bound luggage behind in St. Maarten?
If you are a
travel agent, a
concierge services provider or a
private jet operator and you want to
make sure your St. Barths clients luggage get to St. Barths the same night even if they arrive late after St. Barths airport closing time at sunset, you can
reserve a SeaSXM speedboat via AirSXM by emailing
sales@airsxm.com.
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Advertorial
In case you are reading about AirStMaarten's private charters programme for the first time, here is some background information on our shared charters.
WHAT ARE SHARED CHARTERS?
A Shared Charter is when you book a Private Charter and you Only Pay for the Seat You Occupy. Not for the whole aircraft. AirStMaarten has been successfully organizing shared charters to St. Barths since November 2006.
HOW OUR SHARED CHARTERS WORK
Travel Agents and clients book our shared charters for seamless connections and hassle-free transfers to St. Barths and surrounding islands such as Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis, St. Eustatius, Antigua and Tortola.
HERE IS HOW OUR SHARED CHARTERS WORK...
1) If 1 or 2 people request to share a private charter, the shared charter is scheduled.
2) Once 3 or 4 people book the shared charter, the shared charter is confirmed and you are good to go!
If the shared charter is not confirmed, passengers are booked on a regular commercial flight with complimentary VIP Services to ensure their transit is smooth and hassle-free.
Visit
www.sharedcharters.com for more information, scheduling and availabilities.
Ending this introduction, in this month's issue you will read about the question whether
THE GREAT TRAVEL RECESSION IS OVER in an opinion article by yours truly...
Happy Readings!
Terrance Rey
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2. PROMO:
ARE YOU A TRAVEL AGENT?
IF YOU ARE A TRAVEL AGENT...
Email our Sales Department at AirSXM.com for information our attractive pre-season travel agency discounts for private and shared charters and VIP services to St. Barths. We are offering significant agency discounts on charters booked for travel during the 2014-2015 winter season. Contact our Sales Department for more information on our agency discount rates.
AIRSTMAARTEN
P.O. Box 5245, Philipsburg, St. Maarten
Tel. +1 (721) 581-9740, Cell: +1 (721) 523-3564, Fax: 1-866-503 0347
Email: sales@airsxm.com
3. ARTICLE:
"IS THE GREAT TRAVEL RECESSION OVER?"
"IS THE GREAT TRAVEL RECESSION OVER?"
By Terrance Rey
There has been a lot of debate recently about airlines and the airline industry. Especially the cost of airline tickets for travelers. For us here locally, St. Maarten as a destination has been the center of discussion on what should be done to attract more airlines to our island. But we have to understand a vitally important factor in the airline business. The only real reason any airline would fly to St. Maarten is to make money. Airlines are not in the business of promoting any tourist destination. Airlines exist to make money for their shareholders in the form of profits, plain and simple.
Many airlines have increased or are in the process of increasing flight capacity at the expense of leg room and continue to increase fares despite lower fuel costs because they are in the process of recouping the losses they sustained from the reduction in air travel brought about by the ‘Great Travel Recession‘ of the past decade.
The management of most airlines have become forward-looking and see that the present recovery of economies in the United States and Europe is the perfect opportunity to make as much extra cash as possible. The money people save at the gas station as a result of declining oil prices can be used for air travel.
One of the problems with development of more air travel to St. Maarten is the seasonal flights that only occur during the winter months from North America and Europe. St. Maarten needs to promote itself as a year-round tourist destination that will encourage the seasonal flight operators to make a change to all year-round operations.
Getting the airlines to cooperate with this objective will take incentives. The negotiations may be a bit tricky in maintaining compliance with US and European restrictions on government subsidies of airline companies and St. Maarten’s government’s budgettary restrictions are certainly no help either. But the government of St. Maarten could and should make new deals with major carriers from the US and Europe, especially Scandanavian-based airline companies, such as Finnair, looking to expand their operations internationally.
This means paying the airlines to come to St. Maarten. This could be a financial stretch for a government that is seeing decreasing tax income and less revenues for businesses with the state of the present economy. But this strategy has worked well for Curacao and many more thousands of airports around the world. So why not St. Maarten?
St. Maarten needs to look at new markets that have established airlines such as the Arab Gulf states. China and South Korea have developed a growing airline industry. Certainly, not every person in China can come to St. Maarten, but a growing number of wealthy Chinese would see St. Maarten for its attractiveness that even the vastness of China cannot offer in terms of climate and its natural environment.
Finally, advertising will make people want to come to St. Maarten and the airlines will cater to their client’s desires with more flights to St. Maarten. Again, this could be a bit of a financial burden on businesses that are not making the revenues they once enjoyed but every other Caribbean tourist destination will be doing the same thing. The competition for tourist dollars in the Caribbean and elsewhere will certainly increase tenfold the coming years and St. Maarten needs to be at the forefront of innovative marketing developments to attract new visitors to the island.
The good news is that the 'great travel recession' is essentially over in the USA, Canada and Europe. But is the 'great travel recession' over for St. Maarten as well? Higher employment rates and more disposable income in the USA alone will mean more tourists for St. Maarten and our island has all the accommodations, natural beauty, activities and night life that make the island attractive to tourists. However, the island will have to spend lots more money to increase inbound air travel and get back to the levels of tourism revenues that the island previously enjoyed in the booming era up to ten years ago.
By the way, it is important that tourism authorities on St. Maarten select the right media to promote the island and attract new visitors and make it worthwhile for airlines to fly to St. Maarten. Here is an example of a good media platform to use:
www.stmaarten-info.com. Because it is really necessary that we put St. Maarten back on the map as the preferred destination for the major airline carriers.
Terrance Rey is owner and managing director of Let's Travel, Travel Anywhere and AirStMaarten. Terrance Rey has 14 years experience in the travel business as a travel agent, tour operator, charter broker and as an internet travel entrepreneur. You can email Terrance Rey directly via terrance@letstravelsxm.com with any questions you may have relating to your international travel needs.
Advertisement
Visit
http://www.airsxm.com/vipservices and
http://www.sharedcharters.com for more information.
4. SPONSOR MESSAGE:
Book Cheap Tickets Online At CheapoAir
5. NEWS ITEM:
SeaSXM Starts Luggage Transfer Service To St. Barths
SEASXM STARTS LUGGAGE TRAVEL SERVICE TO ST. BARTHS
AirStMaarten's sea transport division, SeaSXM, sister service to AirSXM, will be offering luggage transfer service to St. Barths for late-arriving or left-behind luggage in St. Maarten that needs to get to St. Barths the same night. SeaSXM will transport luggage by speedboat to St. Barths.
SeaSXM is offering this service to travel agents, concierge service providers and private jet operators. With the evening or late night luggage transfer service to St. Barths travelers can be assured that their luggage will arrive in St. Barths the same night they do. The airport in St. Barths closes at sunset, forcing airline operators that can not take all luggage into St. Barths by air behind until the next day. Passengers, travel agents and other service providers can have SeaSXM transport this luggage by speed boat to St. Barths.
For more information and to charter our speed boat, email
sales@airsxm.com. Visit our website online at
www.seasxm.com.
6. TRAVEL TIP:
How To Get Group Discounts With AirSXM To St. Barths
If you are part of a group of at least 10 persons - even if the party is spread out in different groups of people ranging from couples or families - and you want to benefit from AirSXM's group discount service, please email us via sales@airsxm.com to request a group discount code for your party. Then when the people in your party submit their own reservation request via
http://www.airsxm.com they can fill in the group discount code in the comments field at the end of the reservation request process.
Whatever you want do, we at AirSXM are here to help you plan your next flight into St. Barths, be it via commercial flight, private charter, shared charter or helicopter charter. And don't forget to request our VIP Services as well.
Visit
http://www.airsxm.com to select your preferred flight option. We also accept bookings up to over a year in advance as well. Just don't forget to request your promo code if your traveling with a diverse party of 10 persons or more.
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7. AGENDA:
Just Launched: Brand New Website for Let's Travel
LET'S TRAVEL LAUNCHES BRAND NEW WEBSITE
Philipsburg - Local travel agency, Let's Travel, has launched a brand new website online at www.lets-travel.com, which will not only cater to locals looking to request or book flights online, but also target the inbound travel market, allowing tourists to book flights, tours and activities via the website as well.
Owner of Let's Travel, Terrance Rey, said that the website took a long time for him to complete but he felt that after the passing of hurricane Gonzalo last week, it was imperative to boost St. Maarten's travel offerings online so that the island as a tourist destination can get more visibility as the Caribbean islands will certainly be ramping up the competition to promote and sell their respective destinations.
"A comprehensive website like that of
Lets-Travel.com offering many travel products and tour services for inbound travellers to St. Maarten is a welcome addition to the marketing arsenal of the island's tourism sales infrastructure." says Terrance Rey.
The website will also serve as a webportal to AirStMaarten's commercial charter flights with specials to Guyana, Jamaica, Miami, Aruba, Colombia and later on Brazil as that South American market opens up once St. Maarten and Brazil conclude an open skies treaty.
"For the past eight years
AirStMaarten has been organizing both private and shared charters to the surrounding islands of St. Barths, Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis, Tortola and Antigua & Barbuda for passengers transitting through St. Maarten, but the time is right with the launch of
Lets-Travel.com to promote inbound travel to St. Maarten itself with services that will attract clients of AirStMaarten to actually visit and stay on the island itself." explains Rey.
"Our group of travel companies, partners and affiliates will use the platform of the new Let's Travel website as a portal to all the different travel products and services that are on offer. We look forward to helping put St. Maarten back on the map as the prime vacation destination in the Northeastern Caribbean region." concludes Terrance Rey.
For more information, call +1-721-542-2381, email
info@lets-travel.com or visit
www.lets-travel.com.
8. ADVERTISEMENT:
Book Our Speedboat Charters To St. Barths
If you are afraid of flying and landing in St. Barths; if the ferry service is too slow or too bumpy for your taste; if all flights to St. Barths are full; or if the St. Barths is closed due to sunset, you can charter our speedboat service to St. Barths.
Our speedboat charters are powered by Scorpion Trips. Scorpion is more than just a boat, it's an experience. Step aboard the 37 foot offshore speed boat and enjoy one of the fastest boats in the region.
Scorpion's speed boat runs on twin 600 horse power Mercruiser engines. A total of 1,200 horse power! Scorpion's speed boats can also carry passengers in an unsurpassed level of comfort and style at regular cruising speeds which ensure comfort and speed. Scorpion has an open bar with cold drinks and a secure cabin space for any luggage etc.
So surf to
StMaartenTours.info to book a speed boat charter to St. Barths, Anguilla and Saba.
Email us now via info@stmaartentours.info for more information about our Speedboat Charters.
9. CUSTOMER SERVICE:
How To Book With AirStMaarten
Booking Procedure & Reservation Information
Submit a reservation request online at www.airsxm.com. Once we receive your request, we will send you a Reservation Offer for your consideration. Once you accept our proposal, we will require payment. You can use our credit card form to send us your credit card information. We accept all major credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. You can also pay by bank transfer, check, cash or Paypal. Once payment is received, we will book the commercial flight or private charter and send you a Reservation Confirmation.
If you have requested additional services such as VIP Transfer Services, we will send you a Final Confirmation containing all details of your travel itinerary and services booked. And that's how you book with AirStMaarten.
Other Customer Service Resources:
Our Shared Charters concept explained in full detail
VIP Transfer Services through Princess Juliana Int'l Airport
Island Concierge Services on St. Maarten and St. Barths
Read what our satisfied clients are saying about our service
Ticket Insurance
We also accept payments via Paypal
St. Maarten Villa Rentals
St. Maarten Yachting and Sailing Charters
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