Aruba´s Travel Industry Keeps Moving On at White-Hot Pace

30 January 2006 5:00am

Aruba is moving forward with exciting tourism plans for 2006. The small island continues to be recognized as a popular vacation destination, enjoying a reputation for offering a quality product with a high level of safety and security for visitors, according to Jorge Pesquera, President and CEO of the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association.

Last year, the island in the heart of the southern Caribbean, 15 miles off the coast of South America, reported arrivals of 453,875 guests from January to July, 2005. This reflects a 2.4 percent increase over the summer, a 10 percent rise in the winter or an overall spike of 6.8 percent from year previous. Yearly, Aruba welcomes around 750,000 overnight visitors from all over the world.

For a country with a population of about 100,000, the island welcomed about 344,401 Americans between January and July 2005, up 8 percent from 2004.

Arrivals from Canada went up by 5.7 percent to 13, 548, up 11.1 percent to 36,986 from Europe, but went down by 1.9 percent with other nationalities. From January to October 2005, Aruba reported cruise passenger arrivals totaled 393,671, down by 9.7 percent from 436,089 in 2004.

At the recently-concluded Caribbean Marketplace organized by the Caribbean Hotel Association, Tourism and Transportation Minister Edison Briesen said they are busy with developing the Quality Plan on the second tourism corridor at the other end of the island.

This will include a new hotel and golf course along tourism policy lines, the upgrading and expansion of quality tourism products through a deal inked with the private sector. The investment plan, about $60 million spread over the coming 4 years, will enhance the landside, parking areas, new buildings to be built on the bay, as well as expand the Curacao base Forward Operations Location complimented by Aruba.

Borders shared with the Dutch Antilles will be made safer as Aruba has US immigrations and customs on the isle. Briesen announced building the quality Fixed Based Operations where private aircrafts and jets can be given their own air and landing space on one side of the runway of the Queen Beatriz International Airport.

New airlifts will soon draw huge crowds, facilitating increased traffic flow. We were very successful in attracting the new airlines to introduce new routes, said Briesen. Some 90 percent of air route capacity is operated by scheduled airlines; the rest, with the charters.