About the St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation
The St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation was founded in 3 September 1992, before this date it was a part of a government department. The foundation is governed and managed by a board, which is responsible for the supervision of the activities. The foundation is founded to positively develop tourism on the island, and functions as a tourist office.
The main task of the foundation is to promote the development of tourism on St. Eustatius. The mission is to get the island Government to lend greater priority to tourism by providing adequate funding to effectively and efficiently promote tourism in key markets; ensuring a quality tourism product by introducing and controlling the minimum standard requirements; preparing future generations to take on greater responsibilities within this sector by means of teaching tourism as a subject on levels of the education system.
The vision is to develop St. Eustatius into a tranquil and captivating special interest tourism destination offering quality principles. The purpose is to become a modern, dynamic and recognized special interest tourism destination, which boosts high quality standards and which offers the visitors good value for money.
The Staff members of the St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation:
Alida Francis is the Director of Tourism of the St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation. She is responsible for the day to day functioning of the Tourism Office and the overseas marketing of Statia as a tourism destination.
This includes maintaining the regular and sufficient communications and promoting goodwill between the Government, Tourist Board and all members of the private sector of Statia's tourist industry, both on the island and overseas.
The Public Relations Officer, Lavinia Mitchell is responsible for local public relations, quality assurance and the efficient dissemination of information. This includes coordination of tour programmes, local tourism awareness programmes, mail and phone enquiries with regards to the tourist product and efficient operations of the visitors' reception and information services.
Charles Lindo is responsible for Training and Quality Assurance. His main tasks include: providing technical support in the areas of management, training and quality assurance, coordinating the implementation of training and education programmes, liaise with the hospitality sector operators on matters pertaining to their development within the industry; promoting quality achievement and performance improvement throughout St. Eustatius' hospitality sector among others.
Maya Leon-Pandt joins St. Eustatius tourism development Foundation as "Product Development & Research Manager" on December 1, 2009. With over 10 years of experience in the hotel industry, applying a strong expertise in operations management, special event planning and guest satisfaction.
A native of Statia, Maya Leon-Pandt began her career while pursuing a Master's Degree working as a Graduate Assistant and Front Office at the Hilton Huntsville in Huntsville, Alabama.
In 1998 she joined the team at Extendedstay Hotels and within 2 years was promoted to General Manager at the Extendedstay Deluxe in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Maya holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing from Alabama A&M University, a Bachelor of Science degree in International Travel & Tourism Management from Webber International University formerly Webber College and an AS Degree in Travel & Tourism from Johnson & Wales University.
Working at the St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation is opening an entire new experience and avenue for me. One I look forward to with much passion and enthusiasm. Tourism is a very important sector in most countries and being as diverse as we are, it's necessary for us to tap into that area and promote and develop what our beautiful Statia has to offer
Shernarda Courtar is one of the airport information officers. As part of her duties she is responsible for the assistance of the passenger arriving on Winair, private planes or charters. This includes giving information to the tourists, arranging taxi schedules and any other duties relating to the tourist industry.
Beverly Woodley is one of the airport information officers. She is responsible for the assistance of the passenger arriving on Winair, private planes or charters. This includes giving information to the tourists, arranging taxi schedules and any other duties relating to the tourist industry.
Dutch is the official language, but English is spoken everywhere. The Netherlands Antillean Guilder is the local currency, however the US dollar is widely accepted
