Aruba Arrivals Grow on Land and Sea
Dec 15, 2017
Photo: Oranjestad, Dutch architecture, licensed under CC by 1.0
By: Brian Major
Source: Travel Pulse
Tourism growth is expanding across the Caribbean, but nowhere is that more evident than Aruba.
Despite strong overall tourism growth during the last five years, Aruba had suffered a 10 percent visitor arrivals decline in 2016 driven partly by a dramatic downturn in visitors from Venezuela, its second largest market.
Nevertheless, the southern Caribbean nation remains a perennial favorite among North American travelers, as only the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Jamaica hosted more overnight arrivals among Caribbean nations than Aruba’s 1.1 million arrivals in 2016.
Last year’s decline also obscured what has been a strong surge forward in recent years.
Aruba notched a record 1.22 million overnight visitors in 2015, a 14.3 percent increase over 2014, (also a record year for the country). Aruba is also a leading Caribbean port of call, hosting nearly 700,000 cruise ship vacationers in 2017.
Photo: Edward Malone, Area Director — North America, Aruba Tourism Authority. Credit: Edward Malone
Directing the nation’s U.S. tourism marketing operation is Edward Malone, area director for North America at the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA). A longtime Aruba hotelier and tourism expert, he has helped shepherd the country’s expansion from a small niche destination to a mainstream Caribbean staple.
We sat down recently with Ed to discuss Aruba tourism and the factors behind its growth.
Travel Pulse: How long have you worked in Aruba tourism?
Edward Malone: I just completed 30 years since I arrived in Aruba. I went there in 1987 at the beginning of Aruba’s tourism development stage when they recognized the real economic benefits of tourism as the best opportunity to develop the island’s economy.
I was part of a hotel group that took over a hotel on Palm Beach. I was there for 12 years and was very involved with the local community and hotel association. I was an active member with the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association and honored to serve as its president from 1998-2000. All of those great things happened to me after coming to Aruba, including being named Caribbean Hotelier of the Year in 1996.
TP: The Caribbean’s visitor arrivals continue to increase despite significant challenges. What do you believe is responsible for the region’s tourism growth?
Photo: “Aruba is also a leading Caribbean port of call”, licensed under CC by 2.0
EM: I don’t think Caribbean tourism is much different from Aruba tourism. Tourism has become the world’s number one business and is growing, but the unique thing about the Caribbean and more specifically Aruba is that, despite all of the growth and expansion, the true spirit of hospitality and commitment to the industry and serving people hasn’t changed.
It’s been terrific to be a part of itm and in my role within the Aruba Tourism Authority, I continue to be inspired by the things we do, the terrific team of professionals and the leadership of our organization.
When I first went to Aruba in 1987 there were 150,000 overnight visitors. Thirty years later, we have 1.2 million land-based visitors plus another nearly 700,000 cruise visitors. We’re very fortunate.
TP: Aruba is among the most popular Caribbean destinations, annually among the top five islands in terms of visitor arrivals. What has made the country so popular with travelers?
EM: Number one is the people; they are committed to serving travelers. Secondly, it’s a great product. There are great hotels across all levels, with hoteliers constantly keeping things fresh and re-investing. Great restaurants, world-recognized great beaches and an endless amount of activities.
We have great infrastructure. It’s modern. There’s great weather year around without fear of hurricanes, and we have stability economically and politically. As the leading Caribbean destination for repeat visitation each year (almost 50%), we are proud of our success in delivering a quality and memorable vacation experience.
Photo: Kayak tour/family fun in Aruba, Credit: Island Routes
TP: How has the Aruba Tourism Authority sought to work with travel agents?
EM: Establishing and strengthening relationships with the agent community, trade education, support of trade events and our travel agent certification programs are integral components of our success which we believe in strongly.
Our sales team nationwide and Canada maintain a very aggressive calendar of activities and always wish there is more we could do. Despite all of the growth and the emergence of online travel retail, our level of engagement with travel agents has remained consistent.
TP: How would you describe 2016 for Aruba in terms of visitor arrivals?
EM: Since 2012, we have had growth years every single year. Last year provided a little more of a challenge for us, not unlike some of the other Caribbean countries. Last year it was a mild winter, we had the threat of Zika, which really affected islands with group business, and all of the national concern with the election.
TP: How did airline service impact last year’s arrivals?
EM: Our biggest thing last year was we didn’t have any significant change with the air seat inventory. We’ve been fortunate over the years to never have had a serious demand issue. Last year we had 80 percent occupancy among all of our hotels, from five-star to three-star. We had no new lift last year. We had no new capacity, and the flights to Aruba were already running at nearly 90 percent load factors over the entire year.
Photo:Eagle Beach Aruba, Credit: Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort
TP: How would you characterize arrivals to date in 2017?
EM: This has been a very good year for us from North America. We’ve had an increase in air capacity from the U.S. of about 11 percent from all gateways. Through July, we are running close to 9 percent arrivals growth versus last year. When we able to secure additional capacity from our airline partners, we do a pretty good job.
We have new service from Minneapolis starting this winter. We’ve had enjoyed good success with geographic diversification and not being as dependent on Boston, New York and Philadelphia. We are served now by daily direct flights from 12 U.S. gateways plus Toronto, Canada.
At the end of the day, a great product, the support of the government, the partnership with our hotel partners and travel agent community and the great team of tourism professionals within the ATA all contribute to a winning formula. We are optimistic for our future.
