Labega encouraged by potential

 PANAMA/PHILIPSBURG--Head of the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau Regina Labega announced that seats on the Copa Airlines flights between Panama and St. Maarten are now available for sale and travel agents and wholesalers can now book.

  Local business and tourism partners are expected to be particularly happy about this new direct flight which will start December 18. 

  “St. Maarten has the opportunity now to develop a year-round growth strategy that overcomes seasonality,” Labega said.

  “Access by Copa and Gol will support this overall thrust by securing access to, and effective marketing in, countries whose natural outbound travel is counter cyclical to the traditional demand for St. Maarten.”

  Labega added that Venezuelan operators and operators from other South American countries called to congratulate the destination on this achievement and indicated that their customers prefer the Panama hub.

  “We are therefore encouraged by the potential amount of visitors to the destination,” Labega said.

  Officials from Copa are just as pleased as their counterparts from St. Maarten. “We are very pleased to launch service to this beautiful island,” said Joseph Mohan, Commercial and Planning VP, Copa Airlines. “Copa Airlines has played a major role in the development of tourism and business in the Caribbean and we are certain our passengers will be captivated with our latest destination, our 46^th, as we continue to bring together the Americas.”

  The new direct flight will depart Panama on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 12:22 pm, arriving in St. Maarten at 4:17 pm. The return flight will depart on the same days at 5:30 pm, arriving in Panama at 7:44 pm.

  Copa Airlines passengers can now make immediate connections at the hub of the Americas in Panama to/from the major cities of South America, Central America and Mexico with St. Maarten without having to go through customs or immigration. 

  From St. Maarten, and possibly utilising an arrangement with regional airline Winair, Panamanian tourists can easily visit other islands in the area.