News Source: http://travelvideo.tv
Jun 01, 06 | 12:58 pm
Exactly one year to the day when Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old graduate of Alabama traveled to the Caribbean island of Aruba with members of her senior class and disappeared, the islanders quietly remember. The teen did not return to the US on the day of her flight.
Despite media attention on an issue blown out of proportion, an attempted call for tourism boycott by Alabama, let alone an ongoing legal wrangling, the island enjoys a very strong season and a steady flow of guests. A peaceful island such as Aruba is no longer looking back and talking about a case gone wrong. More than anything, it is talking tourism dollars and hotel investments galore most island destinations can only dream of.
In fact, the Caribbean Hotel Association announced the selection of the island as the site for the 2007 edition of Caribbean Marketplace, the largest trade event showcasing Caribbean travel products and services to take place January 14-16, 2007.
eTN has this exclusive interview with Aruba Tourism and Transportation Minister Edison Briesen, who reported Aruba currently attracts over 4,000 more sun-seekers, totaled at 732,514 tourists from around the world. An amazing 532,352 U.S. travelers hit Aruba's white-sand shores last year, representing over 1,000 (.2 percent) additional visitors compared to 2004. The US makes up 72.7 percent of the island's total market share. Overall, 2005 held steady with a .6 percent increase in worldwide numbers over 2004. With hundreds of thousands of seasoned travelers and sun-sea-sand lovers making the island the destination of choice in 2005, Aruba remains one hot-spot with a repeat visitor rate of over 40 percent -- the highest among all Caribbean destinations.
Managing an island aptly tagged a vacationer's paradise where happiness lives, Minister Briesen reveals nothing will put a damper on the industry that sustains them, feeds them and oils the economic wheel of the Dutch Antilles.
eTN: How are you moving forward with plans for the rest of 2006? Are your projects on schedule?
Minister Edison Briesen: Aruba has earmarked a huge sum to upgrade the product and step-up service levels and infrastructure by making significant investments in economic development across the island. About $274 million flowing into tourism is indicative of the strength of this market and the island's dedication to serving our visitors and enhancing the guest experience. We are poised for an increase in both tourism numbers and revenue in 2006. Expansions and renovations encompass virtually every sector of the travel industry, from the airport and cruise terminal to hotels, spas and restaurants.
Tourism is extremely important for us. We are working on the Divi links, The Divi Aruba Phoenix Beach Resort's $20-million Divi Phoenix tower construction this 2006, to finish by fall 2007. The new development will more than double the size of the existing property adding 140 units, including timeshares, studios, one, two and three-bedrooms, in four buildings, bringing the total number of rooms to 241. The Divi Aruba All-Inclusive will invest $5.5 million and deliver 55 additional rooms by
December 2006. Divi Village Golf and Beach Resort, a $42 million endeavor, features 52 new units, which opened August 2005. Phase two opened 52 additional rooms last April 2006, 56 units in December 2006 and 80 more by the end of 2007. The Divi Dutch Village Beach Resort underwent a $10-million renovation in 2005.
Investing $20 million to the property, Starwood's Westin recently acquired the Wyndham Aruba Resort, Spa and Casino. Nine to 10 months from now, Westin will have completed the renovations. Next to the old Wyndham, Westin will build luxurious condominiums to the tune of $6-8 million. Wyndham recently completed the construction of a new 10,000-square-foot ballroom, connected to the existing ballroom. The two spaces total 20,000 square feet, making it the second largest ballroom on the island.
For another 2 years, RIU Aruba Grand remains close while undergoing a $106 million expansion adding 286 guestrooms. When completed, the new and improved resort with be the five-star, 451-room RIU Palace. The Grand is the former Sheraton Hotel on the island. While the Occidental Grand Aruba Resort which closed last June for a $24 million transformation, soft-opened in May as the island's first luxury all-inclusive property. Because of the hurricanes in Florida last year, the supplies were stuck in Miami. There was a delay with delivery. We are honing our 6-star hotel class through the Royal Hide-away of the Grand group in line with plans we have to push our products more upscale.
For about $26 million, the Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort and Casino is embarking on a
refurbishment, scheduled to begin in June 2006. Full renovation of the property's 360 guest rooms, lobby area, ballrooms, Alfresco Bar and Palms Restaurant and Beach Bar is scheduled and the Stillwater Spa and Copacabana Casino will be updated. Renovations will take place floor by floor. The Holiday Inn Sunspree Aruba is undergoing a $5-million renovation, the first phase of a three-year program. The Aruba Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino completed a ballroom and casino expansion in 2005. Working on the last phase, it is planning a $3.4-million room renovation in 2006 and will spend $12 million renovating rooms in 2007. The Renaissance Aruba Resort and Casino is completing a $10-million upgrade. The renovations include a new Presidential Suite, new lobbies in the Marina Hotel and Ocean Suites, the opening of a new restaurant and pool bar, new bedding in all 558 rooms and suites and more.
eTN: What is on the table on the public sector side?
Briesen: On the government level, we have put in approximately $16 million in the creation of the largest linear park in the Caribbean stretching 10 miles from Aruba's Queen Beatrix International Airport to the end of the high-rise hotel corridor and the California lighthouse. The new landscaping will include green areas, walking and bike paths, designed to enhance the ocean view along this much-traveled stretch from airport to hotels.
For the airport, we have a $35 million investment plan covering four years of work at the airport. This will include four new elevators, and a central security check alongside our US-bound and non US-bound immigration and custom checks. About $2.4 million will be invested in security to capture any illegalities at the central traffic zone. In July, we will open the fixed-base operations which is a small airport within an airport complete with customs and security, a little mall etc, for the private jets coming in. We are doing it to offer our VIP passengers dedicated service. We are doing changes on the runway as well. There is an audit for the kingdom from the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). We have signed a protocol with the Dutch minister of Transportation of the Dutch Antilles to proceed with the audit in the beginning of 2008, upon approval September 2006 and pre-audit next year. Runways will be maintained due to some fine cracks here and there. Major airlines from the US have descended upon us. Jet Blue will start daily flights on 15 September out of JFK airport, giving additional traffic from our biggest market - Northeast US. The airport authorities and the Aruba Tourism Authority are looking into Spirit Air operating from Orlando to the island.
We are going to remove the cargo area from the Oranjestad Cruise Port to the Barcadera Port to make Oranjestad more cruise passenger-oriented; the Barcadera, to support its free zone facility. We will rehabilitate the cruise terminal and build a marina and yachting dock with condominiums between the terminal and the Bushiri hotel. All these in the name of building a tourism corridor, after all, ours is the only cruise terminal with ships leaving as late as 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning. Every cruise tourist is a potential stay-over tourist for tomorrow.
eTN: How are you preparing for another hurdle since the U.S. State Department and the Department Homeland Security announced the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which will require all U.S. citizens and foreign nationals, to carry a passport or other accepted secure documents to enter or re-enter the U.S. starting January 2007? Aren't you more concerned as the year draws in and Americans are not rushing to secure their travel documents?
Briesen: Of the 72 percent Americans who come, 25 percent already have passports. The Caribbean Tourism Organization has asked Washington for a delay. The security reason, core to this issue, will move into the cruise business with which we welcome about 3000-4000 passengers. Cruises will need a different approach as opposed to airlines carrying only 300-400 at a time.
We are prepared because we already have the necessary equipment here to facilitate the checks.
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