Aruban Tourism … Different Month … Same Results … Tourism Down Again for 2006 … When will it End?

Try as they might, Aruba has spent millions on tourism marketing, lowered rates, and provided other incentives to have tourists come to Aruba. All to no avail, its just not working. The Central Bank of Aruba is reporting that tourism is at best stagnant and at worst, still in decline for October and November, 2006.

Aruba’s efforts are not working because they are attempting to put a Band-Aid on a broken leg. They refuse to deal with the underlying issue. Until they do, Aruba can expect for increases of 0.9 and decreases of 5 to 6% per month. Aruba may never learn; however, eventually they are going to have to do something.

Watch the Video of Aruban Tourism.

The number of sojourns and their number of nights spent dropped with respectively 7.7 and 5.7 percent in the first 10 months of 2006, while the numbers for September of that same year increased with respectively 0.9 and 0.1 percent, and dropped in October with respectively 3.1 and 4.4 percent.

Compare the tourism rates over the past 2 years since Natalee Holloway has gone missing and Aruba officials took part in a concerted effort to obstruct an investigation. See if an increase of 0.9% means anything after the losses that have already been experienced.

(Vanderbilt – ‘06)

September 2004 (Pre-Natalee Holloway): The number of stay-over visitors and their nights spent on the island went up, respectively, by 15.7 percent and 12.7 percent during the month of September 2004 compared to September 2003. Stay-over visitors from the United States and Venezuela rose by 18.8 percent and 14.5 percent, respectively. In contrast, the Dutch market fell by 3.3 percent. The average hotel occupancy rate registered a 6.5 percentage points increase to 73 percent. On a year-to-date basis, stay-over visitors surged by 14.6 percent against a 2.3 percent decline a year earlier, while visitor nights increased by 11.4 percent compared to a 3.9 percent increase in the corresponding period in 2003.

Sept 2005: The Aruba Tourism Authority has not yet published information on stay-over visitors and their nights spent for July, August, and September 2005. Data on the average occupancy rate of the hotels for September 2005 show a decrease of 6.2 percentage points to 69.3 percent, compared to the corresponding period a year earlier. In September 2005, cruise passenger arrivals fell by 35.4 percent, despite a 16.7 percent increase in the number of ship calls.

October 2005: The Aruba Tourism Authority has not yet published information on stay-over visitors and their nights spent on the island for July, August, September and October 2005. Data on the average occupancy rate of the hotels for October 2005 show a decrease of 4.9 percentage points to 77.8 percent, compared to the corresponding period a year earlier. In October 2005, the number of cruise passenger arrivals and ship calls both fell sharply by 38.9 percent.

Another interesting development is the decrease in cruise line passengers to Aruba. Although there have been more ships docked in Aruba, the end result is a decline in cruise passengers to Aruba.

Data on the occupancy rate for November 2006 has also not yet been published. In the month under review, the number of cruise passenger arrivals decreased by 1.8 percent, despite a 28.6 percent increase in the number of ship calls.

A drop in cruise line passengers and it doesn’t even count the loss of the ones from the Carnival Cruise ship Destiny that docked for the last time in Aruba in December 2006.

“Cruise passengers on ships of the caliber of Carnival Destiny spend an average of one-hundred dollars when they are in Aruba.  This cruise ship accommodates an average of 2000 passengers, which means a source of income of about 200.000 dollars per week years after years.”

Amigoe, January 30, 2007: Port of Oranjestad very busy, but fewer passengers that visit Aruba. Central Bank:  ‘More cruise ships; fewer cruise tourists’ 

ORANJESTAD – Despite the fact that in November of 2006, almost 30 percent more cruise ships call in at the port of Aruba, the cruise passengers dropped with 1.8 percent, stated the Central Bank of Aruba (CBA) in her monthly report on November. 

The number of sojourns and their number of nights spent dropped with respectively 7.7 and 5.7 percent in the first 10 months of 2006, while the numbers for September of that same year increased with respectively 0.9 and 0.1 percent, and dropped in October with respectively 3.1 and 4.4 percent. 

The figures for November 2006 were not available yet when CBA’s monthly report was drawn up, neither were the average room occupancy of the hotels. 

The price index for the family consumption was 1.9 percent higher in November than same month in 2005.  The average inflation tempo was 3.7 percent on a yearly basis.  

The money quantity increased with 17 million florins (0.7 percent) in November 2006. This is attributed to an increase in foreign exchange of 100.5 million florins and a decrease of the net domestic active of 83.5 million florins.

The returns on the issuing of bond on the international capital market, 91.4 million florins, and the Dutch development aid of 29.3 million florins.  The net foreign active was 718 million florins, 13.5 percent higher that in November of 2005.

The decrease of the net domestic active was caused by a 91.6 million florins drop in the progresses of the banking sector on the public sector.  Banking transactions not related to credit loans decreased with 9.8 million florins.  The company loans increased with 1.3 percent, consumer credits with 0.5 percent, and mortgages with 0.3 percent.