Discover Saint-Martin

What Discover Saint-Martin does

Discover Saint-Martin is the official destination marketing organization for the French side of the Caribbean island of Saint-Martin, operating since 1992 as an EPIC (Établissement Public Industriel et Commercial) under French territorial administration. The organization promotes the island — marketed as 'The Friendly Island' with 37 beaches and a 3,060-hectare natural reserve — to inbound tourists across four target origin markets (France/Europe, USA/Canada, Brazil/Latam & Cruises, and local/regional) via dedicated market managers and content delivered in French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Its core product is the st-martin.org multilingual tourism portal, supplemented by monthly digital magazines distributed via Calameo, an events calendar, a Tourinsoft-based SIT registration system for tourism professionals, and the SXM Academy online training platform.

The technology stack is conventional content-management infrastructure rather than a proprietary platform: WordPress CMS, Google Analytics, Google reCAPTCHA, YouTube video embedding, an email newsletter system with double opt-in, and a GDPR-compliant cookie consent layer. The organization does not sell to end users; its services are free tourism information, and commercial revenue mechanics are absent. Instead, funding flows from the Collectivité de Saint-Martin (the local French territorial government) and EU FEDER grants earmarked for specific tourism-recovery projects — most notably a €1,495,073.33 grant in 2021 for the post-COVID communication strategy relaunch, alongside grants for a Marigot waterfront kiosk (€201,739.90) and headquarters renovation (€186,855.76). The go-to-market is event-driven and content-led: carnivals, gastronomy festivals, trade shows for MICE/luxury/romance verticals, press trips, multilingual digital publications, and organic social media across Facebook and Instagram. A newly constructed physical kiosk on the Marigot waterfront extends the distribution footprint beyond digital channels.

Name

Discover Saint-Martin

Legal name

Office de Tourisme de Saint Martin

Website

https://st-martin.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The official destination marketing organization (EPIC) for the French side of Saint-Martin, promoting the Caribbean island to inbound tourists via a multilingual content portal, events, trade shows, and dedicated market managers across France/Europe, USA/Canada, and Brazil/Latam, funded by the Collectivité de Saint-Martin and EU FEDER grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing Services

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHAAAGAD

Permitting, Reservations & Visitor Information Services (Passes, Booking, Visitor Centers)

Travel & Hospitality/Adventure, Amusement Parks & Ecotourism/National Parks & Protected Area Visitor Services (Concessions, Guided Access)

Keywords

• Destination marketing
• Tourism promotion
• Travel information services
• Destination management
• Visitor information center

Headquarters

HQ city

Marigot, Saint-Martin

HQ country

St. Martin

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Public funding and subsidies: As an EPIC (Établissement Public Industriel et Commercial), the tourist office operates primarily through public funding from the Collectivité de Saint-Martin and EU/FEDER grants for tourism promotion projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Discover Saint-Martin is the official tourist office (EPIC) of the French side of Saint-Martin island, authorized by the Collectivité de Saint-Martin to promote and market the destination. It runs the multilingual tourism portal st-martin.org, works with tourism professionals in the SIT (Tourinsoft) system, organizes promotional events and trade-show presence, and produces destination content (photos, videos, magazines, newsletters) for leisure travelers, MICE buyers, and the wedding/romance market.

Product overview

The Discover Saint-Martin tourism platform is a content-focused destination marketing website operated by the Office de Tourisme de Saint-Martin. The primary product is the st-martin.org tourism portal, a multilingual information website providing visitors with comprehensive travel planning resources including activity listings, dining options, accommodations, events, and practical travel information. Supporting products include the monthly Tourist Office newsletters and magazines published in multiple languages, an events calendar, and the SIT (Tourinsoft) registration system for tourism professionals. The platform does not offer a unified platform-plus-modules architecture but rather functions as a content management and distribution system with interconnected informational sections.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• st-martin.org Multilingual Destination Portal The official destination portal of Saint-Martin, providing free access to tourism information in four languages for prospective leisure travelers, MICE buyers, and wedding planners. Includes editorial content on beaches, gastronomy, culture, nature, and events, plus accommodation guides and a calendar of events.
• SXM Academy Online Training Platform An online training platform offered by the Office de Tourisme de Saint-Martin to qualify local tourism professionals on the destination, its products, and customer-experience best practices.
• Discover Saint-Martin Tourist Office Magazines and Newsletters Regularly published magazines, newsletters, and editorial publications produced by the tourist office to promote the destination; distributed online via Calameo and in printed form at the tourist office and partner outlets.

Quantifiable outcome

• EU FEDER funded projects aim to increase visitor numbers, improve destination awareness, and support local tourism business growth

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Visit Barbados: National DMO for Barbados, a comparable Caribbean island destination pursuing similar beach, romance, MICE, and cruise segments. Operates with a larger marketing budget and established global brand presence.
• Aruba Tourism Authority: Dutch Caribbean DMO with a mature, well-funded destination marketing operation. Comparable mandate of promoting a small Caribbean island internationally with a focus on USA/Canada and European source markets.
• St. Maarten Tourism Authority: Official DMO for the Dutch side of the same island. The most direct structural comparator: sister territorial authority governing the adjacent half of Saint-Martin, with identical tourism mandate and overlapping source markets.
• Anguilla Tourist Board: Official DMO for the neighboring British Overseas Territory of Anguilla. Same small-island Caribbean DMO mandate, shared beach/luxury positioning, and proximity-based visitor overlap with Saint-Martin.
• Saint-Barth Tourism Office: French Caribbean DMO for Saint-Barthélemy, a nearby French-overseas territory targeting similar luxury, romance, and high-end experiential segments. Highly comparable operating model as a French-territorial tourism office.
• Curaçao Tourist Board: Dutch Caribbean DMO with similarly multicultural positioning and a comparable mix of European, North American, and Latin American source markets. Same official DMO function for a small-island destination.

Others

• Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association: Regional industry body representing Caribbean hospitality and tourism stakeholders. Provides benchmarking, advocacy, and trade-show coordination relevant to the Office de Tourisme's MICE and trade-development work.
• Collectivité de Saint-Martin: The territorial government that owns and funds the Office de Tourisme de Saint-Martin. Relevant as the institutional parent/funder and governance counterpart, though not a peer DMO.

Broad incumbents

• Jamaica Tourist Board: A larger, more resourced Caribbean national DMO with broader budgets and global brand recognition. Competes for the same North American and European leisure traveler segments as Saint-Martin.
• Bahamas Ministry of Tourism: National-level Caribbean DMO with substantially larger marketing scale and airlift agreements. Competitor for the same beach, luxury, and cruise traveler segments Saint-Martin targets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/iledesaintmartin
• Instagraminstagram.com/discoversaintmartin
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/discover-saint-martin

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Discover Saint-Martin