Palm Beach County Florida … Aruba in America (Jorge Pesquera) … Tourism at all Cost

Palm Beach County Florida official need to have their heads examined. They may also want to check their souls as well. So Palm Beach County wishes to bring the Aruban legacy and philosophy of “tourism at all cost” to their community. Why would any one take on this baggage?

(Palm Beach County, you too can have this as the face of your tourism)

It appears that Palm Beach County, FL wishes to be the next Aruba. Don’t ask for things Palm Beach, they might just come true. Officials in Palm Beach County should be ashamed for taking the direction of “tourism at all cost” even if it means turning the other way on safety and  credibility. What a legacy to aspire to … try to be the next Aruba.

(Palm Beach County, Pictures do not lie)

Never mind that cable television news programs lost interest in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. There’s reason to think the saga will spring back to life in Palm Beach County.

Politicos and tourism experts here are saying there may be yet another chapter to be written in the story of the Alabama teenager  who went missing from a seven-night vacation to Aruba in 2005. (Sun Sentinel)

What a bill of Aruban good you were sold Palm Beach County. Do you really think the Aruban tourism did not take a major hit during the disappearance of Natalee Holloway and the covered up investigation that followed? Do you really think that Jorge Pesquera was responsible for the claim of the so-called rise of tourism in Aruba? Really, some seem to think that Jorge was in the witness protection program hiding under his desk. Aruban tourism was in free-fall. Of course that was when Aruba actually decided to publish tourism numbers as they were so bad. The truth is that Aruban tourism has not even come close to recovering from those loses to this day.

What is laughable is that in many areas of the Caribbean, tourism did increase greatly. However, Aruba was not among them. Of course some of the tourism is going to eventually come back; however, to say that Aruba had steady bookings is as pathetic as saying there was no cover up in the Natalee Holloway investigation.

Palm Beach County tourism advisers hired Jorge Pesquera  this summer and they now say he has a story or two to tell on keeping a local economy moving in the midst of crisis.

Despite nonstop news coverage about the southern Caribbean destination, the New York Times reported that the island was met with steady hotel bookings and even higher prices for accommodations.

We all know that the New York Times would never print any false or misleading stories, now would they? Steady hotel bookings and higher prices huh. Who in Aruba provided Palm Beach County with these tourism numbers, Baghdad Bob? One does not need to be a rocket scientist or a CPA to see that there was nothing but carnage taking place in the tourism sector of the Aruban economy. What part about any of the following stories indicate to anyone that the Aruban economy flourished under Jorge Pesquera following the disappearance of Alabama teen, Natalee Holloway?

• Amigoe: Number of Airport passengers in Aruba dropped vigorously by 12.8 percent
• Aruban Boycott Not Having an Affect? Fewer passengers arrive Airport in 2005
• Diario: (Aruba) While Minister of Tourism continues to hide, Tourism is faltering
• AM Digital: Fewer Airline Passengers in 4th Quarter to Aruba
• Amigoe: Aruba sees Fewer airline passengers in second quarter. What a shock!
• Aruban Tourism Down Again; What Will it take to Wake these people Up? What Are they Hiding?
• Boycott Not Having an Effect on Aruba? Nor is Natalee? … Better Check the Numbers (Arrivals drop by 13%)
• Aruban Tourism … Still An Endangered Species
• Aruba Tourism 2006 into 2007 … Money, Money, Money … Down the Drain
• Misery Index Continues in Aruba as Tourism Numbers Fall for Feb & March 2006
• More bad News For Aruba … Money Supply Decreases by Afl 4.1 M in July 2006
• Canada, Don’t Worry about your Tourism … It could be worse … You could be Uruguay or Aruba
• Caribbean Tourism Doing Well Exceeding Global Growth Average, except Aruba … Pirates of the Caribbean
• The Hotel occupancy rates for Curacao Highest Level in Years, Not so for Aruba … We wonder why?
• CENTRALE BANK VAN ARUBA: Summary of the monthly bulletin of the Centrale Bank van Aruba

And the stories go on and on and on.