Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine April 2018 | Page 517

ST. EUSTATIUS
St. Eustatius’ brand of tourism Special events and festivals
St. Eustatius (Statia) is known as the Caribbean’s
Hidden treasure. There is a reason for this. Our
Island boasts of its peace and tranquillity, a place
off the beaten track, but also a place where
divers come to experience the Caribbean in all its
underwater glory (no cattle dives). Where hikers
find themselves on top of the world (600m above
sea level), where historians and travel writers
can easily sit amongst the numerous ruins on
the Island and envision themselves back in time
during Statia’s Golden Days (the Island changed
hands 22 times over the years between the Dutch,
French, English). The first salute was fired to the
Andrew Doria on the 16th of November 1776 to
make Statia the first ever to recognize the United
States of America as a Free Nation. St. Eustatius is known for its peace and tranquillity
but just like many Caribbean Islands it comes alive
during certain times of the year:
MARCH 8 - Statia Women’s Day Conference
JULY is considered to be Carnival month (last two
weeks in July)
SEPTEMBER 26 AND 27 - Statia Sustainability
Conference
NOVEMBER 11 - 16 - Statia Day Week of
Activities on the streets of Statia every night and
activity (free event).
When all that is said and done and it’s time for
an evening walk and peace of mind, the Island of
Statia embraces its name The Caribbean’s Hidden
Treasure where all the hustle and bustle seems
to go to sleep until the next day and tranquillity
reigns. TASTE OF THE CULTURES - Also known as TOTC
is an event held every last Thursday of the month
in which every nation represented on the island
has the opportunity to showcase their countries
dishes. The difference between this event and any
other gastronomic event around the Caribbean is
in the price per dish. . .
Vision for Statia’s tourism
development What makes St. Eustatius different
from the other Caribbean islands?
Our vision for tourism development on St.
Eustatius, being a small Island with lots of
potential and possibilities, is to bring all tourism
ventures together and focus on a tourism product
that will be sustainable in nature and will allow
for all stakeholders to be able to find themselves a
place in the development.
All the Islands in the Caribbean have one thing in
common, the sun, however I believe the people
of the islands plays a major role in how the Islands
promote or market themselves.