The St. Martin Office of Tourism is looking into measures to reduce cruise passengers on Wednesdays and Saturdays and increase cruise arrivals on other days. St. Martin currently sees 1.5 million cruise passengers a year, says Regina LaBega, director of tourism. LaBega notes that the island gets twice as many cruise passengers on Wednesdays and Saturdays then on other days. LaBega says incentives will be offered to cruise lines, such as reduced fees on ships, to persuade passengers to come on other days throughout the week beside Wednesday and Saturday. LaBega says the overwhelming number of visitors on those two days has actually hurt business at local markets since many people choose not to stop and shop since the streets are so crowded, LaBega says. She says the overcrowding on those days is also discouraging people from visiting Phillipsburg. LaBega says she expects the cruise passengers per day to balance out in about two to three years.
