How do small Caribbean islands, overshadowed by tourism giants such as Jamaica, Aruba and the Dominican Republic, market and promote their destinations?
"We can never compete against the big guns," said Glenn Holm, director of the Saba Tourist Bureau. "We don't even try. We're in a different league."
At five square miles, sheer-cliffed Saba is the smallest of the Dutch islands in the Caribbean. Only slightly larger at 11.8 square miles, and also Dutch, is neighboring Statia, also known as St. Eustatius.
Together the two islands, both south of St. Maarten-St. Martin in the northeastern Caribbean, welcome about 80 visitors on a good day.
First-quarter visitor numbers for Saba were up 11% over Q1 2009. "That means we got about 200 more visitors," Holm said.
"Nothing ever happens on Saba, and that's just fine," Holm said. "Our repeat guests like it that way."
Visitors also like diving the coral-protected marine park surrounding the island; climbing the 1,064 steps to the summit of Mount Scenery which, at 2,877 feet, is the highest point in the Dutch kingdom; and hiking the trails in the rain forest just below the summit.
Saba has 150 rooms in eight inns and cottages, one main road, a dormant volcano, four villages, 15 restaurants, one traffic light, no beaches and ladies who sew and sell lace.
Visitors can rent cars at two rental agencies, "but hitchhiking is very popular," according to Holm.
There's daily ferry service from St. Maarten 28 miles to the north and five 12-minute flights a day on Winair. Planes land on Saba's 1,200-foot runway, the world's shortest commercial airstrip, Holm said.
Seven minutes by Winair southeast of Saba is sister island Statia, population 3,000.
"Our visitors come to dive our reefs and shipwrecks; hike the 10 trails around the Quill, our dormant volcano; or walk down into its crater," said Beverly Woodley, visitor services officer for the island's Tourism Development Foundation.
Statia has three beaches, the Miriam C. Smith Botanical Garden, historical forts and 80 rooms in five small inns.
"I don't know what our first-quarter visitor numbers were, but I saw more tourists this winter than last winter," Woodley said.
Both islands rely on repeat guests, word-of-mouth recommendations and "savvy travel agents who know what we are, what we're not and what we've got," Holm said.
A pretty simple marketing strategy.
Visit www.sabatourism.com and www.statiatourism.com.