Page 31 - bon-dia-aruba-20200725

locAl Saturday 25 July 2020
A31

Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association (AHATA):

Hotel occupancy projected to remain low

ORANJESTAD — The Aruba For the month of July, the
Hotel & Tourism Associa- projected average oc-
tion conducted a survey of cupancy remains at 9%.
hotels to measure tourism’s Hotels forecast an aver-
recovery and any progress age occupancy of 18%
made in occupancy. The for August on Aruba, with
survey showed that recov- a gradual growth towards
ery remains slow and grad- a 40% occupancy rate in
ual. December. Indications are

Reef restauration

by ScubbleBubbles

Foundation
that Timeshare hotels are higher cost than income of a company’s costs, so
experiencing a higher oc- levels for quite some time. the subsidy only helps par-
cupancy in July, estimated Programs such as the wage tially. However, without the
at 35% on average. subsidy allow companies to wage subsidy during the re-
survive and retain employ- covery period, many com-
The road to recovery is long ment. panies would need to file
and tourism-related com- for bankruptcy or restruc-
panies shall experience Payroll is only one segment ture its operations.q

ORANJESTAD — Several foundations and organiza-
tions take care of Aruba’s marine world and one of
them is ScubbleBubbles Foundation. They recently
went out to do some reef restoration activities at De
Palm Island. From maintaining the nursery to finding
locations to outplant.

A lot of work goes into reef restoration. Not only do
they have to do regular maintenance at the nursery,
but they have to find locations to outplant when the
corals are ready to be put back onto the reef. First
they have to find the right location: somewhere they
can do well- with the right biodiversity and water con-
ditions. Once they find the location, they mark the
area by placing nails with colored zip ties. This makes
it easier to do photo mosaics, which is the next step in
the process. Stay tuned for the rest of their outplanting
experience!
Reef Rescue Network is a network created to assist the
creation and management of coral restoration with
organizations & businesses throughout the world. Their
goal is working together to reverse the decline of Cor-
al Reefs throughout the Bahamas & Caribbean. The
Reef Rescue Network’s partner in Aruba is Scubble-
Bubbles Foundation. This incorporated foundation in
Aruba focused on getting more local youth involved
in ocean conservation activities. It started in 2016 as
a way to get more young people diving, but soon it
was clear that something needed to be done to pro-
tect and restore the beautiful reefs of Aruba. Another
organization is Aruba Reef Care Foundation. The goal
of the project remains community education and the
eventual establishment of an Aruba Marine Manage-
ment System. Known originally as the Aruba Under-
water Reef Clean-up, it was launched in 1994 by the
initiative of Castro Perez and Byron Boekhoudt in 1993.
If you are interested in the work of these foundations
or willing to contribute to their good work, please
check out their Facebook pages: scubblebubbles
foundation or aruba reef care foundation.q