PHILIPSBURG

Shopping Mecca Of The Northeastern Caribbean

SINT MAARTEN IS A DUTY FREE SHOPPER’S PARADISE

Duty Free Shopping

According to a study on Duty Free Shopping in the Caribbean, the global duty free trade has developed rapidly over the past 50 years, from a very modest beginning in 1947 to a multi-billion dollar industry today.

Fifty-two years ago the duty free industry saw the light of day for the first time when a small whiskey and tobacco store opened at Shannon Airport, Ireland. At that time, just after World War II, it was logical that Shannon’s advantageous and strategic position on the west coast of Ireland should be the final refueling stop, before the final 2500 mile trip to New York.

From this point onwards, airport authorities in Europe and elsewhere started realizing the potential of non-aviation income that could be generated by duty free shops.

The Americas now represents more than one quarter of global duty free sales of which the Caribbean alone stands for an impressive and important close to half the share. Very few regions in the world can compete with the Caribbean in terms of relative duty free performance with regard to the geographic size of the region.

The Caribbean provides some of the best shopping experiences in the world, but Sint Maarten is different. One of the joys of vacationing in Sint Maarten is that it is duty free! Great values can be had because prices are among the lowest in the Caribbean. Certainly much less than prices you would pay in the U.S., Europe and Canada.

With no duties on jewelry, leather goods, cameras, gold, perfumes, cosmetics, watches, china, crystal, linen and much more from around the world, Sint Maarten is a duty free shopper’s paradise. The best places to shop on the Dutch in