Page 12 - AHATA

A Three-WAy MArriAge: ArubA, esporTs And TourisM

I’m certain everyone reading this can identify benefit, the learning of the new skill and the pro-
with two (2) of the three words in the subject. duction of the skill. Also now focusing on the es-
Aruba’s tourism history is no secret. Now as you ports part of the industry – someone is required
may know, I try not to bore you with statistics but to produce the event, create content from the
while thinking about this article, I did two things, event, design the event, ensure the games are
one I parked on the boulevard pretending to be fully tested, manage the event. While given the
a plane spotter on Sunday last whereby I no- share size of the market, I think any opportunity
ticed about five (5) airlines landing in the space to develop local exportable skills will be wel-
of 45mins and secondly, I took to the tourist comed. Furthermore, the wider gaming industry
area to observe the activity and get a pulse. has been producing increasing career oppor-
Back to the subject, what does the 3rd word tunities. Recently I saw a news article on schools
mean…it’s Esports…competitive video gam- in Aruba being equipped with fiber internet as a
ing…competitive electronic gaming including foundation for digital learning and technology
mobile gaming! You know electronic games, within education. Very timely I must say.
that thing us as millennials cried because we
could only play on holidays and felt the pain 3) The Ocean is Relatively
when we lost current while playing and unable Blue in the Caribbean but there
to save……..vs now it’s used as the babysitter
to keep children occupied! Now what if I told are proven models
you, which many readers may know, people a. While the Caribbean is both known for
now make careers and millions of dollars from sports and tourism, it’s relatively a small player
playing competitively. I am sure many of you in the sports tourism market. It is even smaller
reading this can identify that many play these when looking at sectors such as video game
games, even on their phones. based sports.
b. The largest ongoing and consistent
Now think about this - what if we had some sports tourism outlet in the Caribbean; The Ca-
of the world’s best video gamers competing ribbean Premier League (CPL) has some fantas-
against each other engulfed by the beautiful tic numbers. Quick maths:
island that is Aruba?…….just imagine hearing a i. 2022 – USD135m generated for the Ca- thing! Have a think about it! I am sure many of
famous commentator saying Guys we are here ribbean Region/36,000 rooms/+1,500 employed you reading this can identify with the possibility
in Dushiiii Aruba for the Grand Finals of the Mine- ii. 2023 – USD100M generated for Guy- of this becoming a reality…. …Happy Reading!
craft Global Challenge……to me this line alone, ana alone while the tournament was hosted
I can see every Gen Alpha/Gen Z wanting to throughout the region Kwesi Charles is a seasoned corporate finance
be there in person while also watching on their and investment professional with over 15 years
phones (caught it?). Amazing if you ask me. I 4) Esports and Sports Tourism of experience covering areas such as invest-
remember participating in the World esports a. According to the 2024 Aruba Tourism ment banking, private equity, debt financing, fi-
Championships in Bali 2022 whereby 100+ coun- Authority (ATA) report, the number one goal is nancial modeling, and consumer credit. He has
tries participated and looking at the impact, I to increase the economic value of tourism. This USD billions of dollars in transaction experience.
then asked myself – What if this was done in the when tied with the facts that sports tourism cov-
Caribbean? ers about 10% of the world’s expenditure on Kwesi holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s
Now let’s look at 4 Reasons why these three can tourism plus the estimated sports tourism growth degree in Finance. His insights have been pub-
be a marriage: rate of 18% between 2023-2030 plus esports lished in Trinidad and Tobago’s leading business
having an estimated yearly growth rate of 6% newspaper. He also proudly represents the Ca-
1) Aruba Does Tourism Well for same period - provides all the elements for ribbean as the sole regional contributor to two
I. For the year 2024, Aruba Tourism Author- the marriage. of the largest credit union news platforms in the
ity reported a 13% increase in visitors compared b. Given the waters are relatively unchart- world: CUInsight and CUManagement.
to 2023 with Latin American visitors representing ed in the Caribbean, I believe this presents an
a 38% increase. amazing opportunity for Aruba to be a leader. When not involved in Finance, Kwesi is deeply
II. If one were to invest $1 in the rate of to- Sports tourism is already active and done well passionate about sports and competitive video
tal visitor growth to Aruba over the last 20years, on the island via the Beach Tennis (+1,200 from gaming, particularly esports. He even led the
that $ would now be worth $1.78 which is a 78% 40 countries over the last 3 years) and Kite Surf- charge in establishing the Trinidad and Tobago
growth rate over a 20-year period. ing (Aruba Hi-Winds is the largest of its kind in the National FIFA Video Gaming Team.
Caribbean). Based on both, this means there
2) Development of Skillsets in would be lessons learned already to be trans- He is currently the Managing Director of Blue-
start Capital Aruba VBA (Facilito Cash), a sub-
the Local Communities ferred to that of esports. sidiary of the Unicomer Group. Through his blog,
I. Based on research, it is estimated that To conclude, I would say that while I have dis- Kwesi shares thought leadership on finance,
Aruba has about 16,000 residents actively in- cussed esports, that’s just part of the wider op- strategy, and sports—three areas that intersect
volved in gaming. Also, according to Newzoo portunity that is the gaming market. The reality in powerful ways in our daily lives.
and the ATA Deep Dive on Gen Z and Millen- is that most Millennials/Gen Z and Gen Alpha
nials, both demographics across three (3) geo- engage directly with games or gaming related His goal? To create value, share perspective,
graphical types ranks gaming within their top 6 content. That being said, I believe the opportu- and help others navigate the ever-evolving
things to do. nity for Aruba to position itself is great. The coun- world of finance.
II. While the topic is on esports and com- try has the ability to own this space and further-
petitive gaming, there are several other careers more generate profits via Caribbean expan- For collaborations, discussions, or opportunities,
birthed from within the gaming industry. Think of sion. As the youths say, there are levels to this Kwesi can be reached at kwesinyalcharles@
it like this. New career options provide a dual gmail.com.

This article is sponsored by Facilito Cash