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a8 local
Monday 9 noveMber 2020

Aruba Time Share Association (ATSA) 2020:

The Voice of Vacation Ownership in Aruba

ORANJESTAD — As you recovery effort here in- cation Ownership Resorts, Visitors and locals must test direct and indirect rev-
recall, in recent months, cluded the increased num- VOs, who also used the within 72 hours prior to trav- enues, the first one mea-
having crushed the curve ber of Covid19 infections time spent shut renovating, el or test upon arrival at the sured by current account
of Covid19 in Aruba, the in Europe, and the partial upgrading and updating. airport here. and destination expendi-
island geared up toward and full lockdown that fol- They all embraced the HH Most importantly, the Aru- tures, estimated at US$ 274
opening its borders in July. lowed in cities around the Code without exception. ba Tourism Authority had million, while the second is
July 1, 2020: International continent, travel restriction In a recent announce- also eliminated the hot measured by business ex-
borders for Europe, Cana- to the ABC island in the ment, the Aruba Tourism zone classification of USA penses and investment,
da and the Caribbean re- wake of Covid19’s Second Authority reported that the states, thus all separate estimated at US$ 191 mil-
opened for travel with the Wave, and Aruba’s own, border is reopening on De- entry requirement for hot lion. The calculated in-
exception of the Domini- so far positive, handling of cember 1st, 2020 for: South zone states were can- duced impact, measured
can Republic and Haiti. a surge of infection locally. America, except Venezu- celled on November 1st. All by consumption multipliers,
It should be noteworthy ela, Central America, Mex- visitors, from all USA states, adds US$63 million, then
July 10, 2020: Borders re- that not a single visitor ico, Dominican Republic have the option to test accounting for leakage,
opened for travel to the caught the virus on the is- and Haiti. within 72 hours of travel or including outflow, imports,
United States. land, thanks to the excel- With this development, the upon arrival, and the island and remittances delivers
It was not all smooth sailing lent strategies employed by Aruba Tourism Authority ex- is expecting an additional an estimated net added
once the borders opened. the hotels and resorts, and pects an additional 2,200 7,000 visitors per month value of US$ 387 million to
The USA elections and the the implementation of the visitors from South and Latin thanks to that strategy. Aruba’s economy.
economic uncertainty sure- HH Code, the island’s man- America in December, and You may visit: https://
ly had an impact on the datory Health & Happiness between 2,300 to 2,800 a www.arubacovid19.org/ As you all know, our island
number of potential travel- certification instituted by month, in 2021. the website, it also carries has been challenged be-
ers to the island. Additional the Aruba Tourism Authori- Testing requirements re- much information in Eng- fore, and its economy was
challenges hampering the ty, adopted by Aruba’s Va- main in place for entry. lish, and is the official re- dealt a number of devas-
source. tating blows, such as the
closing of the oil refinery in
As Aruba received its first 1986, and the economic
guests, immediate grati- downturn of 2008, but with
tude was due to the VO the help of the VO own-
owners, who were among ers, Aruba got its economy
the last ones to leave when back on track, in a relative-
the pandemic started and ly short amount of time.
were among the first ones
to return, proving again We are of course hop-
that Aruba VO industry is ing to see the same brisk
extremely resilient. We can rate of VO owners’ returns,
rely on our VO owners to through 2020.
support us!
It is good to remember that This is what we know about
Aruba’s VO industry is an our VO owners: Their time-
exceptional economic en- share purchases represent
gine for the island, and has owning a piece of the is-
contributed in many ways land, beyond the real es-
to the overall tourism prod- tate value. Owners enjoy
uct, for over four decades. a solid, long-time relation-
The economic value of the ships with the locals.
Aruban VO industry in 2017,
for example, was conser- While on the island VO own-
vatively projected at US$ er do not overcrowd the
530 million. This is equivalent environment, they have
to an estimated one-third seen Aruba’s highlights
of our gross tourism earn- many times before, and
ings, and almost 20% of the just long to be sitting undis-
nominal GDP projected for turbed under their favorite
that year, or one-fifth of the palapa, in the shade, and
Aruban GDP. socialize with their friends.
In terms of money, the Aru-
ban VO industry generates Continued on Page 9