Thursday, September 29, 2011

































Tourism Week 2011 was the best ever!


Oranjestad-St.Eustatius, World Tourism Day was celebrated on September 27 2011. The theme this year is Tourism-Linking Cultures. Every year the St.Eustatius Tourist Office organizes a week of activities to commemorate this special day.

This week of activities started on Monday September 19 and ended on Saturday September 24 2011.
Monday 19: official opening at Fort Oranje with the singing of the anthem, a speech by the Commissioner of Tourism Mr. Clyde van Putten, which was followed by performances by each of the four elementary schools on the island.

Tuesday and Wednesday Schools took turns going on fieldtrips to the Nustar Terminals while others had educational lectures in their classrooms by various cultural groups.

Thursday 22 there was an exhibit at the Community Center on Rosemarylane where various nationalities had stands displaying arts, craft, photos, national dishes etc from their respective countries. Students from all the schools took turns visiting the exhibit.

Friday 23 was the Unity Walk on heels. Persons from the 40+ nationalities residing on Statia were welcome to take part in this walk wearing their country’s t-shirt and flag. Over 400 students lined up along the route of the walk waving self made flags from the various countries. The first male and female to reach the finish line wearing stilletto heels will won a prize. Prizes were sponsored by WINAIR and OLD GIN HOUSE. The St.Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation extends its gratitude to the sponsors.

Saturday 24 TW2011 closed off with an elegant Wine&Cheese party at the Mike van Putten Youth Center. Tickets for this event sold for $55.00 each. The keynote speaker was Mr. Leon Stubbs from the Bahamas. Mr. Leon works as a project developer in the field of cultural tourism and he served as director of the African American Heritage Society in Pensacola, Florida where he was and still is active in the development of the Black Heritage Trail in the State of Florida.

On behalf of the St.Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation, The Director of Tourism Mr. Charles Lindo and Staff, we say thank you to all the stakeholders involved in the Tourism Sector, all the Schools and the general public for their support.