Page 13 - ATD19September2015
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LOCAL A13
Saturday 19 September
Why Aruba Tourism Is Booming — And What’s Next
PALM BEACH - The Dutch before ever stepping foot main crucial to Aruba’s before booking their vaca- project, the destination re-
Caribbean’s tourism hub is on our popular Caribbean success as one of the most tion, so it is essential for us cently invested more than
growing. Quickly. island. The Happiness Build- popular tourist destinations. to maintain a presence $100 million in significant
Plainly, tourism in Aruba is er is a content-rich planning throughout that process hotel updates to enhance
booming. The island saw experience where travelers -What are the largest chal- with a timely, persuasive visitors’ experiences, with
a 16.2 percent increase in can explore nearly 100 vid- lenges facing Aruba as a message at each stage. By an additional $50 million
stayover visitor arrivals in eos featuring adventure, tourist destination? engaging the best strate- planned for next year.
the first half of 2015, making relaxation, romance and gists and leveraging tar- The Aruba Airport Author-
it the Caribbean’s fastest- cultural activities in Aruba. The World Tourism Council geted technologies, we ity also fully renovated the
growing destination in the This dynamic and fully-im- (WTTC) reports Aruba’s GDP can ensure our marketing Reina Beatrix International
first half of 2015, according mersive planning process is more reliant on travel and dollars are spent effectively Airport, introducing new
to data from the Caribbe- — from choosing the video tourism than any other na- against desired consum- amenities and services true
an Tourism Organization. So clips to picking an accom- tion, relative to size, in the ers in-market for vacation to the One happy island
what’s next for the island? panying music track and world. Tourism currently ac- travel. brand. This includes an air-
To learn more, Carib Jour- personal message — results counts for 88 percent of port wide Wi-Fi upgrade, in-
nal caught up with Ronella in a customized “Shortcut the nation’s GDP and only -What sort of new invest- stallation of APC and ABC
Tjin Asjoe- Croes, CEO of to Happiness” video that continues to increase. As ments are being made in Kiosks, three new F&B con-
the Aruba Tourism Author- is easily sharable. As Aruba such, Aruba must remain the public sector of Aruba cepts and an additional
ity. continues to evolve from creative and digital-savvy as it relates to tourism? 150 seats, and an update
both a product and mar- to inspire consumers to visit to the airport arrival hall
-What is the outlook for Aru- keting perspective, new and fully experience our is- As part of Aruba’s ongo- and VIP lounges. Airport
ba tourism and the forecast and innovative tools like land. Our target audience ing, $1 billion+ island revital- investments between $100-
for the high season? the Happiness Builder re- visits more than 20 websites ization and beautification 150 million are planned in
the upcoming years, as
With each passing year, traffic continues to reach
Aruba continues to see an new heights
increase in the number of
stay-over visitors and visitor -Are there large renova-
on-island spending. After tions, new projects or new
receiving a record number hotels are on the horizon?
of annual visitors in 2014
(1.07 million), ATA set an In addition to the island-
aggressive goal for an 11.5 wide resort renovations,
percent increase in 2015, Aruba has new hotels in the
as well as a 4 percent in- works. The city of San Nico-
crease in tourism receipts, las continues to be a large
and is on track to surpass focus for ATA and the gov-
those goals. The overall ernment, as it continues to
ADR is projected to grow evolve as a cultural center,
by 5-10 percent in 2015, with new museums slated
and RevPar is projected to in the coming years.
grow by a similar rate. With
increased airlift, island-wide Continued on Page 14
hotel renovations and new
projects in the works, cou-
pled with ATA’s innovative
digital marketing strategies,
Aruba’s tourism product im-
proves annually — resulting
in improved performance
results year over year.
-What new initiatives are
there for Aruba Tourism Au-
thority?
Aruba Tourism Authority
(ATA) has launched a new
interactive experience al-
lowing visitors to share their
perfect Aruba vacation
