St. Eustatius: A Virtual ‘Gold Mine’ of Sustainable, Eco-Friendly Tourism

St. Eustatius, also known as Statia, is a virtual undiscovered "gold mine" for sustainable tourism in the Caribbean.

Marketed as the "Historic Gem of the Caribbean", Statia is in the early stages of developing its sustainable tourism products.

Currently the number of hotel rooms is less than one hundred, which severely limits the possibility to attract larger volumes of tourists to the island. Nevertheless, the island has carved out a niche for itself in three key sustainable areas:

1. dive tourism,
2. charity tourism and
3. cultural, heritage & historical tourism.

Dive Tourism
Dive tourism is currently the primary tourism product being offered. There are three (3) local dive operators on the island, one of which can welcome divers in 4 languages, namely English, French, Dutch and German.

The wide variety of dives offered include exciting deep dives, archeological dives, historical and modern, spectacular natural reef coral and coral, and much more. Statia is a virtual "gold mine" for divers. The island offers very diverse diving with 8 different ecosystems.

Charity Tourism
Statia has excellent potential for further development of its charity tourism. The St. Eustatius National Parks Foundation (STENAPA) could use more volunteers who can assist with the conservation of the Marine Park, Quill National Park, Boven hiking trails and Botanical Garden. In turn, the volunteers will have an excellent opportunity to acquire new skills and knowledge about conservation, the local flora and fauna of Statia and take part in trail work, tropical gardening and turtle conservation.

STENAPA offers an eight week structured volunteer program which presents an excellent opportunity for charity tourists to get involved in Statia’s Conservation Project.

The St. Eustatius Center for Archeological Research (Secar) also welcomes volunteer tourists for its excavation opportunities.    Some of the most desired enriching travel experiences are archeological explorations, historical pilgrimage, and volunteer work.    Statia is ideally suited to developing and marketing more vacation packages and volunteer programs in these three areas.

Cultural, Heritage and Historical tourism
As a destination which prides itself as being "the Historical Gem of the Caribbean" Statia is uniquely positioned to claim an above average share of the ever increasing cultural, heritage and historical tourism market.    Statia is determined to develop its sustainable tourism product to accommodate its cultural, heritage and historical selling points. And for Statia, there are many!!!

To name a few:

• The First Salute : How St. Eustatius Became America’s Childhood Friend
• The Booming 18th Century Trade Period of the "Golden Rock"
• The Honen Dalim Synagogue: Third Oldest Caribbean Synagogue
• Museums (Simon Doncker, Natural History Museum, Museum of Slavery days, Lynch Plantation Museum, Marine Museum)
• And so much more.

Untapped Gold Mine for Sustainable Eco-Tourism
The Government of Statia is fully committed to and supportive of further development of the local sustainable tourism industry. Specific areas with strong potential for sustainable tourism development have been identified. The island is truly an untapped gold mine for sustainable tourism development!

By Darlene Berkel
Darlene Berkel is Senior Development & Investment officer for the Island of St. Eustatius. For more information and details about the wide variety of available investment opportunities on St. Eustatius, please email [email protected]

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