The CTTSB budget is back before the territorial council

At the territorial council meeting on March 26, elected officials voted by a majority to reject the annual subsidy for the Territorial Tourism Committee (CTTSB). Presented at €1.89 million, the proposed budget had been the subject of numerous criticisms from several council members, mainly from the Action-Équilibre group but also from Unis pour Saint-Barthélemy, the presidential faction, since Marie-Angèle Aubin had abstained during the vote. Her abstention, in effect, tipped the decision toward rejecting the subsidy. A new session of the Territorial Council will be held on Thursday, May 28. Several items are on the agenda, including the CTTSB’s operating subsidy.
Initially, the committee chair, territorial representative Alexandra Questel (Saint-Barth d’Abord Group), proposed to the committee’s board members that they reduce the budget by 200,000 euros. “But they felt that the island is at a turning point and that the CTTSB must take control of its image,” agrees Alexandra Questel. “Consequently, for them, this is the budget necessary for the CTTSB to carry out its actions in the island’s best interest.” ” On May 28, a grant request identical to the one submitted on March 26 will therefore be presented to the territorial elected officials.

No budget, no Gourmet
“I presented four different budget scenarios to the elected officials during a meeting in December 2025,” recalls the CTTSB president. “And they approved the one that was presented to the territorial council. The problem today is that, on one side, we have the elected officials from Xavier Lédée’s presidential group who would like the CTTSB to remove major events from its budget—such as the Gourmet Festival, Saveurs Caraïbes, or the Christmas Village—so that the Collectivité can organize them. So this isn’t a budget issue. On the other side, there are elected officials who no longer want the CTTSB to handle the island’s communications and promotion.”
In an effort to break the deadlock, territorial councilors were invited by Alexandra Questel to meet with members of the CTTSB board of directors this Thursday, May 21. “This is urgent,” insists the president of the Tourism Committee. If the operating subsidy is not approved at the May 28 session, Alexandra Questel says she will have to take action. She mentions taking out a loan or even terminating the employment contracts of the seven CTTSB employees. “And if we don’t have a budget, there won’t be a Gourmet Festival,” she warns. “I expect elected officials to act responsibly.”