# Caribbean Vacations Forums > St. Maarten/St. Martin Travel Forum >  >  Moodys downgrades Juliana

## andynap

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## cec1

lnteresting report, Andy . . . the Notes definitely could be a "buy" as the pricing of them reflects this bad news.

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## andynap

> lnteresting report, Andy . . . the Notes definitely could be a "buy" as the pricing of them reflects this bad news.



What I don’t like is the estimate of Moody that the next. 24 months at Juliana won’t be good for flights in. That impacts the frequency of flights from here.

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## cec1

Agree, Andy . . . and, unfortunately, the St. Maarten government seems to be pretty dysfunctional, which adds credibility to an assessment that the next 24 months don't offer much hope for recovery of tourism on SXM.  At a minimum, I would think that the government would be issuing press releases about recovery at the airport -- setting & managing expectations (presumably with an upbeat view).  And where is the Bureau of Tourism?  Perhaps the government should contract out its PR to Wimco, which has done a terrific job in offering bright (and well deserved ) commentary on recovery of SBH.

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## phil62

The big issue, and the probable reason for Moody's pessimism, is the reluctance of the Island government to accept the loan demands of both Holland and the World Bank for what amounts to financial oversight. Knowing the history of the St Maarten Government, they are right to demand it, and eventually they'll get it, or the Island will simply die.

It's a very sad, but very predictable situation. Back in the 80's, when the Island was part of the Netherlands Antillies, they were placed under "higher supervision" by the Dutch Government because the books never seemed to balance.

Phil

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