St. Maarten Flavors Appeteaser Week Gained Much Exposure locally, and on US and Dutch Television
The SHTA’s “St. Maarten Flavors Appeteaser Week”, kicked off on the 15th of June as a teaser for St. Maarten’s culinary month - November.
The St. Maarten Tourism Bureau and their PR firm Diamond PR ensured coverage of the week and the upcoming prix fixe month of St. Maarten Flavors November on television stations in Atlanta, Dallas, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tampa, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC.
Appeteaser Week serves as a sneak preview for diners to taste the “signature dishes” offered during the prix fixe dine around the month of November. To gain exposure, organizers hosted journalists to help promote the event, sample our excellent culinary offering, and entice travelers to plan ahead for November.
The St. Maarten Flavors in November consists of a three-course signature meal for $49 or $17.50 for a one-course meal at many of our dining establishments throughout the island. Participating restaurants also temporarily applied this prix fixe during Appeteaser week, which runs until Saturday.
TV coverage has also been provided by RTL4, the largest Dutch television channel, as a segment on its “Life is Beautiful” series.
In addition to the media coverage abroad, the organizer of the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA) is grateful for the involvement of many island actors supporting the cause of highlighting St. Maarten as the Culinary Capital of the Caribbean. Amongst other local celebrities King Vers, Mighty Dow, and Gee-Money supported by indulging in an Appeteaser Week meal. Radio station Island 92 provided interviews with many local chefs over the past month. Caribbean Liquor and Tobacco (CLT) supported with their brand’s Eldorado Rum and DiSaronno together with Port St. Maarten to achieve the world record for the number of participants drinking a cocktail earlier this week, to spotlight the event in an even wider channel. We would like to thank our main sponsor PDG Supplies who provided recyclables for the almost 500 cocktails that were served at the Port last Thursday.
Local exposure continues via a series of specials in the Daily Herald. In “Secrets of St. Maarten Flavors”, local chefs and their signature dishes will be featured in Out & About leading up to the culinary month, November-- St. Maarten Flavors.
Please visit stmaartenflavors.com where you can join the public auction for items like hotel stays and excursions placing bids to support St. Maarten’s next culinary team in the Taste of the Caribbean competition in Miami, led by our team Captain Ronata DeWeever.
Until this Saturday, Signature meals can be sampled for either $ 49 or $ 17.50 at Aziana, Captain’s Rib Shack, Emilio’s, Jai’s Contemporary Fusion Cuisine, La Perle Bleu, Ocean Lounge, Pure Ocean, Nola Bayou Bistro, Roma and Mr. Chow at Oasis, TJ’s Cassava Coal Pot and The Tavern. Menus can be found at stmaartenflavors.com; 2023’s including the vegetarian options available within the program.
In addition to highlighting St. Maarten as a culinary destination and the amazing variety of tastes, The St. Maarten Flavors program is raising funds for a new St. Maarten Culinary talent team to compete internationally.
Sponsors include the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau, CLT, PDG Supplies, EZ shop, Sol Gas, ORCO Bank, VISIT Magazine, Island 92Radio, SXM Talks, Sotheby’s International Realty, Dock Maarten, TraKx, and Sound 2000.
Restaurants interested in participating in, “St. Maarten Flavors” in November can contact the SHTA office at events@shta.com / www.stmaartenflavors.com or contact by phone at 542-0108 for all details. Foodies interested in staying up to date with both Appeteaser Week and St Maarten Flavors can subscribe to the newsletter by emailing events@shta.com.
