Page 34 - ATA

LocAL Monday 23 april 2018
A17

Hotel Hustle

Column by: Shanella Pantophlet

Timeshare: the underappreciated and overtaxed backbone of the

Aruban economy

The one thing that has always fascinated me about working in a timeshare resort is, the
fact that the owners of these resorts are people who love Aruba so much that they have
chosen to make this place their second home. Most owners have been coming to the
Island for 30-40 years if not more and their love of Aruba has had them bringing family,
friends and even colleagues, who in turn also keep coming back and even buy their
own timeshare rooms.

Recently The Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) and The Aruban Timeshare Association
(ATSA) commissioned a study on the effects of timeshare on the Aruban economy. It is
a fascinating study, which was carried out by the University of Aruba, if you are some-
one who loves numbers, facts and figures, I strongly urge you to check it out. The study
concluded that timeshares and timeshare owners actually contribute $600 million to the
Aruban economy, which is more than 20% of Aruba’s GDP (gross domestic product). Ba-
sically if the 16 timeshare resorts on the Island banded together, we could form our own
small country and our economy would rank higher than that of Sierra Leone.

Timeshare owners are reliable and consistent, always there when you need them through the beginning of Aruba’s tourism industry, right down
to the hardest times such as during the 2008 global financial crisis and the years following. As many transient hotels suffered from decreased busi-
ness, timeshare owners kept to their vacation schedules, made their way down to Aruba and helped to minimize the negative impacts. Sadly
however the appeal of owning a timeshare in Aruba has decreased over the years as whenever the tourism industry is assessed a tax it usually
falls unfavorably and heavily upon the shoulders of timeshare resorts, which are the backbone of the tourism economy.

At times the frustration amongst our guests can be felt, because they have already given so much to the Island and yet the government always
seems to want more. No marketing money has to be spent on them as they already come back every year and they function as brand ambas-
sadors for Aruba by bringing friends and family down. As they get older and retire many timeshare owners actually buy more weeks at their home
resort thus spending even more time here. We have many owners who come for anywhere between 4 to 6 months out of the year and still wish
they had more time at the end of their stay.

The only true sign of appreciation is the ATA honoring for those who have come for 5, 10 and more consecutive times to the Island. I have met
people who have collected every one of those awards including the highest honor an Emerald award for those who have come for 35+ con-
secutive visits and yet it doesn’t seem like enough of a thank you for those who have chosen every year, time and again to return to Aruba as
their second home. Hopefully the study done by the University of Aruba will make those in power be more grateful for those who have shown
Aruba so much loyalty for so many decades.q

Aruban born and bred Shanella Pantophlet is passionate about tour-
ism. That is the world she studied and works in, so we might as well call
her a specialist. Luckily for Aruba Today Shanella also loves to write.
And together with the fact that the majority of our readers are tourists,
we found ourselves a perfect combination for a column: Hotel Hustle.