The platform now covers eight Caribbean destinations, connects more than 15,000 businesses and points of interest, and gives travelers access to real-time information throughout their journey.
PHILIPSBURG, SINT MAARTEN — August 17, 2026 —
A Caribbean travel technology platform developed in St. Maarten is working to solve one of the region’s most persistent visitor challenges: finding reliable information before, during and after traveling between islands.
Destinito brings destination information, trip planning, local businesses and real-time travel data together in one platform. Its coverage currently includes St. Maarten/St. Martin, Anguilla, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barthélemy, Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, with plans to expand rapidly to all other Caribbean territories.
The platform currently contains more than 15,000 active Caribbean businesses and points of interest, including more than 1,500 businesses in St. Maarten and St. Martin.
Unlike a traditional destination website, Destinito is designed to continue helping travelers after they arrive.
Visitors can access real-time flight arrivals and departures, airport gate and baggage carousel information, ferry schedules and vessel information, live marine conditions and weather warnings, real-time traffic information, official taxi-fare calculations, and cruise ship schedules and port information.
The platform also brings together events, restaurants, shopping, accommodations and activities, supported by locally powered AI recommendations based on the visitor’s location and personal preferences.
The objective is to reduce the amount of fragmented information travelers must search for across airline websites, airport pages, ferry-company social media accounts, tourism websites and outdated travel blogs.
“Most travel platforms are very good at helping someone choose a destination,” said Michiel Parent, Co-owner and Chief Strategy Officer of Destinito. “But many of the most important questions begin after the traveler arrives. Where is my luggage? What should my taxi cost? How heavy is traffic? Is my ferry still operating? What is happening near me tonight? Those are the moments when reliable information becomes part of the hospitality experience.”
Connecting the Journey, Not Just the Destination
Destinito was initially developed as a digital guide for St. Maarten and St. Martin. Its regional expansion was driven by the way visitors already travel through the northeastern Caribbean.
A traveler arriving at Princess Juliana International Airport may stay in St. Maarten, cross the border into French St. Martin, take a day trip to Anguilla, travel by ferry to St. Barthélemy or continue by air or sea to Saba and St. Eustatius.
Each territory has separate tourism organizations, transportation providers and information systems. For the visitor, however, they form one journey.
“We realized very quickly that the visitor does not think in terms of institutional or territorial responsibilities,” Parent said. “Someone staying in St. Maarten may want to have lunch in Grand Case, spend a day in Anguilla and travel to Saba later in the week. The traveler simply wants to know how everything connects.”
That principle led Destinito to expand beyond St. Maarten/St. Martin and begin building a regional travel layer that can move with the visitor from one destination to the next.
AI Built on Caribbean Data
Destinito includes an AI travel concierge that allows visitors to ask practical questions in natural language.
Instead of searching multiple pages, a traveler can ask for a nearby restaurant that is currently open, an activity suitable for children, the next available ferry, a beach matching current weather conditions or something to do during a flight delay.
However, Destinito’s developers say the most difficult part of building a Caribbean AI travel service is not the artificial intelligence itself. It is collecting, structuring and maintaining accurate local information.
“AI is only as useful as the information behind it,” Jan-Willem Wiefkers, Chief Information Officer of Destinito added. “If the business hours, ferry schedule or location information is wrong, AI simply gives the wrong answer more confidently. The real work is creating reliable, structured and locally verified Caribbean data.”
Destinito combines this destination information with live data sources to provide responses that reflect both the traveler’s location and current conditions.
Free Visibility for Caribbean Businesses
A central part of the Destinito model is that local businesses do not have to pay for a basic listing.
Restaurants, hotels, villas, guesthouses, retailers, tour operators, spas, transportation companies and other visitor-facing businesses can claim their Destinito profiles, correct their details and manage their information free of charge.
“Businesses should not have to pay simply to be discoverable,” Parent said. “The Caribbean visitor experience depends heavily on small local businesses. If those businesses are missing from digital platforms because they cannot justify another listing fee, the visitor receives an incomplete picture of the destination.”
Destinito’s commercial services are instead focused on additional business tools such as ordering, reservations, analytics, promotions, loyalty programs, guest Wi-Fi and other visitor-engagement services.
The company believes this approach can distribute visitor spending more widely by helping travelers find independent restaurants, shops, attractions and service providers that may not have large advertising budgets.
Local Knowledge Remains Essential
Although Destinito is expanding regionally, the company does not intend to manage every destination remotely from St. Maarten. It has developed a franchise-based approach through which local tourism and hospitality professionals can oversee and develop Destinito within their own territories.
According to Parent and Wiefkers, technology should make Caribbean destinations easier to explore without making them feel identical.
“No matter how much information we collect, we will never become the true experts on an island we do not know personally,” Parent said. “That expertise must come from local professionals who understand their businesses, culture, transportation, events and daily realities. One connected Caribbean should never become one generic Caribbean.”
Moving Beyond the Mobile Phone
Destinito is also testing an in-room tablet service for hotels and vacation rentals. Hosts and hotels can use the system to share property information, announcements and curated content with their guests.
“Standard questions such as, ‘What time is breakfast served?’, ‘What is the checkout time?’, ‘Can I store my luggage?’ or even, ‘Can I have extra towels?’ can easily be answered through our AI Concierge,” Parent said. “This is offered alongside the destination information, live flight and ferry updates, local recommendations, television entertainment and press-to-talk concierge assistance already available through the platform.”
A vacation-rental version is being piloted first, followed by a hotel edition designed to integrate with property-management systems.
The broader objective is to connect travelers with destination information throughout the complete journey: while planning at home, after arriving at the airport, inside their accommodation and while moving between islands.
About Destinito
Destinito is a Caribbean travel technology platform connecting travelers, local businesses, accommodations, transportation providers and destinations through structured local information, real-time data and an AI-powered travel concierge.
The platform currently covers St. Maarten/St. Martin, Anguilla, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barthélemy, Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.
Visit Destinito.com.