The Martinique

The Martinique (in Martinique’s creole Matinik, Matnik or Lamatinik according to the Dictionary of Martinique’s Creole by Raphaël Confiant) also named the Flower Island, is an island of the Lesser Antilles (or Windward Islands). It is simultaneously an overseas region, a department (Departmental Code 972), an Outermost Region of the European Union, and a French Department of America (DFA). Martinique is part of the French West Indies since 1635, year of the first French settlement lead by Pierre Belain d’Esnambuc.


She ought her name to Christopher Columbus, first European to have discovered it June the 15th of the year 1502. The Island is then named Madinina, Madiana or Mantinino by its inhabitants the Kalinas, a name evoking a mythological island of the Taïnos of Hispaniola. The name evolved, due to the pronunciation , into Madinina, Mada, and then with the influence of its neighbor, the Dominic Island, it stayed Martinique. In the Caribbean native tongue the island is named Loüanacéra ( formed by the prefix ioüna=iguana and the suffix caéra=island) which means the Island of the Iguanas.

The Martinique is located in the arch of the Lesser Antilles, in the Caribbean Sea, in between the Dominique up north, and Saint Lucy in the south, the island is at a 280 miles (450 km) distance of the Venezuela’s Coast, and 435 miles (700 km) away from the Dominican Republic.

On January the 1st 2011 its population was of 392 291 inhabitants.

Ziléa, the club of Tourism and Holidays Professionals in Martinique is the professional alliance of the key players in tourism of the Island.

Our Hotels, Hotels Clubs, Resorts, Vacations Villages, Travel Agencies, Car Rental Companies, Leisure & sports activities, and all of our others tourism partners in Martinique, all joint in the Club of Tourism and Holidays Professional in Martinique Ziléa, welcome their guests as soon as they land in Fort de France. Our Only Goal: Improve and Upgrade the Tourism Offer in Martinique, in a clear desire to cater for all.

For More Information :
Ziléa the Club of Tourism and Holidays Professional in Martinique
List of the Members of the Club of Tourism and Holidays Professionals in Martinique.
Contact Ziléa, the Club of Tourism and Holidays Professionals in Martinique.

Ziléa in Martinique is the connection or if you may the link between the general public and the members of the club: Hotels, Hotels Clubs, Resorts, Tourist Residences, Car Rental Companies, Leisure & Sports Activities, and all of other partners in the tourism field in Martinique.

We represent the whole spectrum of the tourism industry in Martinique: the whole range of accommodation ( hotels, tourist residences, hotel clubs and resorts, deluxe and exclusive rentals, registered and labeled Tourism Lodging, and guesthouses…)
Vacation planners (travel agencies, destination management companies, conventions, business travel…) nautical tourism (cruises and sailing yachts) historical and leisure tours, car rental….