The Bottom, Saba – On Tuesday December 13th 2016, with the cooperation of Windward Island Airways (Winair), a delegation from St. Barths visited Saba for a day on a familiarization trip. This delegation included Vice President Nils Dufau, Director of the Tourism Committee Marie-Laure Belzic, Port Director Ernest Brin, representatives from the Easyway travel agency, various concierges and representatives from the diving industry.

The purpose of this trip was to build awareness of Saba and its varied unique attractions with stakeholders of the tourism industry in St. Barths, in order for them to better promote Saba to the locals and many visitors of St. Barths. Saba aims to build a stronger touristic relationship with other islands within the region, and this goal was met with much enthusiasm during an earlier visit to St. Barths.

As part of this goal, there will be a direct flight between St. Barths and Saba, starting January 6th 2017. This flight will come from St. Barths to Saba on Friday mornings and return from Saba to St. Barths on Sunday afternoons. This direct flight is being implemented to facilitate more efficient travel between the islands, with the hope of creating stronger touristic ties. It can be used as a possibility for long-term-stay tourists visiting St. Barths to come over to Saba for a weekend, and can also be used by locals as a small get-away. In later months, if this route proves to be successful, Winair will also look into the possibility of a weekend flight schedule from Saba to St. Barths.

Commissioner of Tourism Bruce Zagers said to happy to see the continued progress of the Tourism Action Plan 2016-2018, created earlier this year. “The enthusiasm and dedication to making these new relationships work, not only from the stakeholders of the tourism industry on Saba, but also on our neighboring islands, indicate that we all know how important tourism is to our islands. Being so closely connected to our neighbors can prove to be an important advantage, and we will strive to continue strengthening these connections and relationships in the future,” stated Zagers.