Page 43 - AHATA

A14 LOCAL
Monday 16 March 2020

Hotel

Hustle

Hotel Hustle

Column by: Shanella Pantophlet
Life in the time of corona

ORANJESTAD — There is a lot happening in the world right now with the coronavirus
spreading and though we may do our best to avoid or prevent it, there will be cases
in Aruba. So far there have been at least 2 confirmed cases and there may be more in
the days to come. Obviously as an island that relies on tourism as our main economic
structure, this will have a significant impact on the Island in the months to come.

It’s not the first time we’ve had to deal with these
types of issues. H1N1, SARS, MERS, etc. have all been
threats before, but nothing on the scale of Covid-19
as far as its impact on global travel. I think something
that most people don’t realize is that as an island de-
pendent on tourism, we watch closely what’s hap-
pening in the world and do our best to make all the
necessary precautions. Since we heard about Co-
vid-19 and its rapid spread rate all hotels have been
making preparations to secure our survival.

Survival is a scary word, but we have to be realistic,
with all the travel restrictions and the affected age
group being Aruba’s usual demographic, we are ex-
pecting our tourism numbers to drop off significantly
in the days and weeks ahead. Plans have to be in
place to secure the safety of our guests, our staff and
by extension our relatives. Aruba Day, to the displea-
sure of many has been cancelled, schools are closing
and I’m sure every hotel that still has guests coming
in, has signs up restricting physical contact. In tran-
sient hotels the physical contact policy might not be
a big deal, but in a timeshare where employees tend
to treat guests as part of their family, it’s a policy that
takes away that familiarity. It won’t be forever, but it is
what’s needed now, difficult as it may be.

We will have a financial downturn and we are all
hopefully prepared for that. The slew of cancellations
will mean probably slashing hours, providing employ-
ees with extra vacation time and a strict control over
our budgets. The measures may be draconian, but
until there is stabilization or a cure found for this virus,
we need to take every step we can to stay afloat
and make sure our staff doesn’t suffer in the process.

Like most other places, the crisis has shown up before
the virus.
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