Aruba - How Is The Situation?

[malago]

For those who have traveled to Aruba recently, please advise how do you find the situation there regarding Natalie Halloway.

Has this situation lower the tourist? I am a bit concerned being that i own at the Surf Club.

 

[tompk]

Never heard or saw anything about it until I happened across that inflammatory Nancy Grace show on CNN one night last week while I was there. No effect on tourism unless it has caused more people to go to Aruba out of curiosity. Basically, there is no situation.

 

[Art]

No problems at all when we were down there in December.

I talked to some of the locals (white and non-white) and everyone was hoping that the disappearance would be solved ASAP. Interesting comment (from a white) was that the "boycott" was nothing more than old-fashioned US rascism in action.

Overall, I would put Aruba on a par with Grand Cayman at the top of my list of places to visit in the Caribbean.

Art

 

[2hokies]

Deposit your week! We'll request it!! We went as a couple in December and we're going back with our entire family in August.

 

[gmarine]

For those who have traveled to Aruba recently, please advise how do you find the situation there regarding Natalie Halloway.

Has this situation lower the tourist? I am a bit concerned being that i own at the Surf Club.

Aruba tourism was not affected.

 

[Beaglemom3]

I guess it all depends on who you speak to. We heard from our cabbies that yes, tourism had been down but was on its way back up. We heard this from some of the restaurants we went to as well as my fellow bus riders and the car rental folks. The local newspaper mentioned that 60% of island tourism is from the U.S. and that it had been down.
As first-timers, we had no baseline comparison.
Just my observations in passing.
B

 

[gmarine]

I guess it all depends on who you speak to. We heard from our cabbies that yes, tourism had been down but was on its way back up. We heard this from some of the restaurants we went to as well as my fellow bus riders and the car rental folks. The local newspaper mentioned that 60% of island tourism is from the U.S. and that it had been down.
As first-timers, we had no baseline comparison.
Just my observations in passing.
B

I can speak for what people told you bit it doesnt go with the tourism numbers. The amount of visitors to Aruba increased from the previous year.

Hotel occupancy increased from 79% in 2004 to 82% in 2005.

Also several expansions of hotels are planned as well as another expansion of the airport. The Aruba Marriott Stellaris will begin a 24 million dollar expansion this year and the Hyatt is spending 20 million on a refurbishment.

Ritz Carlton is also looking to build a resort on the island and in December Continental Airlines began nonstop service from NY Laguardia to Aruba.

While I dont doubt that some locals may perceive a drop in tourism but it may just be that fewer tourists are traveling around the island.

It isnt for the lack of visitors to island.

 

[Beaglemom3]

I can speak for what people told you bit it doesnt go with the tourism numbers. The amount of visitors to Aruba increased from the previous year.

Hotel occupancy increased from 79% in 2004 to 82% in 2005.

Also several expansions of hotels are planned as well as another expansion of the airport. The Aruba Marriott Stellaris will begin a 24 million dollar expansion this year and the Hyatt is spending 20 million on a refurbishment.

Ritz Carlton is also looking to build a resort on the island and in December Continental Airlines began nonstop service from NY Laguardia to Aruba.

While I dont doubt that some locals may perceive a drop in tourism but it may just be that fewer tourists are traveling around the island.

It isnt for the lack of visitors to island.

Good info, but do you think that what I was told was more on the May 2005 (Natalee's disappearance) to May, 2006 impact ?
I'm not questioning your figures, but they might reflect more of the pre-Natalee situation, maybe?
I'm sure that what I was told is more subjective info v.s. factual objective data.
Thanks, it was interesting and informative.
B.

 

[rosepointe]

I think what some of the media did about the Natalie situation made people suspect of Aruba never mentioning how many young women and men disapear in this country without being found.

What happened to Natalie and the pain and suffering her family has gone through is tragic and none of us should ever have to experience that.

We have traveled to Aruba for the past 6 years (at hotels) and have found this country's people to be welcoming and quite respectful of people. We just purchased at the Surf Club.

On my last trip I spoke with several locals who were very hurt by how their country was portrayed by the media. With that being said hotel rates are higher than ever in Aruba. The beaches are more crowed than ever. Aruba is going through changes of growth and I am sure their citizens would like this situation resolved just as we American like our crimes resolved.

 

[Sue K]

We spent a month in Aruba this year (Feb-Mar) and if you didn't know about the situation before you went there, you would certainly not have found out in Aruba. Things are pretty much life as usual. We go every year and I did not see any decline in tourism from my prospective. Our Marriott salesman however, who has become a dear friend, told us tourism in the Carribean in general was down a bit last year, not just Aruba.

When I brought up the subject to our many Aruban friends the general feeling was sympathy for the family certainly, but hurt feelings for how the US media tried to blame it on the Arubans in general. We have traveled the world over and I still feel the Arubans are the most genuinely honest, warm, and friendly people anywhere.

 

[gmarine]

Good info, but do you think that what I was told was more on the May 2005 (Natalee's disappearance) to May, 2006 impact ?
I'm not questioning your figures, but they might reflect more of the pre-Natalee situation, maybe?
I'm sure that what I was told is more subjective info v.s. factual objective data.
Thanks, it was interesting and informative.
B.

For the month of June 2005, arrivals from the US were up 9% from the previous year. Maybe the locals just perceive less visitors, who knows?

 

[Beaglemom3]

For the month of June 2005, arrivals from the US were up 9% from the previous year. Maybe the locals just perceive less visitors, who knows?

True, but were those trips already paid for in advance? What about the fiscal year June 2005 - June 2006 ? I think that's where the numbers will be telling.
Also, when I speak of tourism, I should cite that it's U.S. tourism that I am referring to.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/04/earlyshow/main1467741.shtml
When we were there, our cabbies & other locals told us that they had seen a huge increase of Venezuelan tourists due to the close proximity of the country, the political unrest there and some great deals on Aruba.
I like the island enough to plan a return trip at some point. Friendly people, easy to navigate and good choices in restaurants, etc. It's not the best island (for me) that I've been to, but a damn good one. I just prefer more lush islands like St. John, St. Bart's, etc.
Also, my I tip my hat to the everyday Aruban who went out on their own time to help search for Natalee. That says a lot about a people.
Thanks,
B

 

[floyddl]

This report implies there has been an impact:


The tourism news just keeps getting better and better in Aruba. First they had a decline in the passengers to Beatrix Airport in 2005. Then the first quarter numbers for passengers to Beatrix Airport were disastrous. Now the latest news is that Carnival Cruise Line will no longer use Aruba as a port of call. Starting 2007, Carnival Cruise ship ‘Destiny’ 7 day cruise will no longer go to Aruba. At some point some one in Aruba is going to have to question the powers that be, what is going on.

 

[Stefa]

This report implies there has been an impact:


The tourism news just keeps getting better and better in Aruba. First they had a decline in the passengers to Beatrix Airport in 2005. Then the first quarter numbers for passengers to Beatrix Airport were disastrous. Now the latest news is that Carnival Cruise Line will no longer use Aruba as a port of call. Starting 2007, Carnival Cruise ship ‘Destiny’ 7 day cruise will no longer go to Aruba. At some point some one in Aruba is going to have to question the powers that be, what is going on.

I would question the source of this "report" since they said the bad news was "better and better."

 

[PR1NCESSD1ANE]

Starting 2007, Carnival Cruise ship ‘Destiny’ 7 day cruise will no longer go to Aruba.

I read on the www.cruisecritic.com web site that they were dropping Aruba in order to conserve on fuel.

 

[gmarine]

Carnival removed Aruba as a port of call for the Destiny because of the increased fuel costs in traveling to Aruba. Carnival was able to add two additional ports to the Destiny's itinerary due to much less traveling time at sea to reach Aruba.

It had nothing to do with the Holloway incident.

Aruba tourism is doing fine. The airport is being expanded again.

The Marriott, Divi village, Dutch village, Divi Aruba, Aruba Phoenix, Wyndam, and Aruba Grand are all undergoing expansions this year.

All together the island is adding over 700 new rooms this year.
No fewer than 8 new restaurants are opening this year.

The Renaissance, Holiday Inn and Hyatt are all adding new amenities and undergoing renovations.

Doesnt exactly seem like anyone on Aruba is experiencing any downside.

 

[Dave M]

One can read statistics in many ways.

Sure, airport arrivals were down in 2005, but overall, visitors to Aruba increased in 2005 over 2004. Even visits by U.S. travelers (532,352) increased slightly over 2004.

Yes, Carnival will drop Aruba. But there's no evidence that the reason is for anything but fuel economy.

Note that very few island nations in the Caribbean have announced tourism numbers for 2005. Perhaps 2005 was a difficult year for many islands. Why? Increasing air fares? More hurricanes? (Yes, I know that Aruba is outside of the hurricane belt, but I'll bet the average traveler doesn't know that.)

 

[gmarine]

One can read statistics in many ways.

Sure, airport arrivals were down in 2005, but overall, visitors to Aruba increased in 2005 over 2004. Even visits by U.S. travelers (532,352) increased slightly over 2004.

Yes, Carnival will drop Aruba. But there's no evidence that the reason is for anything but fuel economy.

Note that very few island nations in the Caribbean have announced tourism numbers for 2005. Perhaps 2005 was a difficult year for many islands. Why? Increasing air fares? More hurricanes? (Yes, I know that Aruba is outside of the hurricane belt, but I'll bet the average traveler doesn't know that.)

Dave, I think Aruba airport arrivals actually increased slightly in 2005 from 2004 levels.

 

[Dave M]

You are correct! Investigating further, I see that paying passenger traffic did increase in 2005 over 2004 at Aruba's airport. I made the mistake of accepting as truth the alleged decline reported earlier in this thread.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[floyddl]

I can't attest to the accuracy of this report but it does indicate a different perspective on the matter.


Amigoe; May 2, 2006: Number of passengers Aruba dropped vigorously

ARUBA – The airport of Aruba saw a drop of 12.8 percent in the number of handled passengers in the first quarter of this year. The number of flight movements dropped with 2.8 percent, announced the Aruba Airport Authority. With 250.585 American passengers, the percentage is lower than last year in the first quarter, namely 15 percent. The number of passengers to and from Venezuela was 34.856, and Europe 26.636. The number of Colombian passengers went up with 9 percent to 13.424.

 

[Dave M]

I have no problem with that three-months report. However, it's much different to state that passenger traffic was down for all of 2005 (as you did) when the statistics show otherwise.

 

[floyddl]

Let's be clear, I did not state anything. I pasted a report that I read.

Here is another report from December 20th that also states that travel was down for the last 5 months of 2005 versus 2004 even though the first half of the year was up. I have no first hand knowledge of the accuracy of this report but it paints a different picture than what is being stated in this thread.


From Amigoe, December 20, 2005: Less air-passengers in the second half of 2005 (Dutch version)

(Amigoe: English version excerpt)

ARUBA – Compared to last year, fewer passengers arrived at the airport of Aruba in the last five months of 2005. Peter Steinmetz, manager of Aruba Airport Authority says that this is due to the disappearance of the American teenager Natalee Holloway.

Full translated version from Amigoe.com

ORANJESTAD - Airport Reina Beatrix has, compared to a year ago, in the last five months of 2005 less passengers have who come to Aruba. The decreasing number of passengers is according to Peter Steinmetz, director of Aruba Airport Authority (AAA), a direct consequence of disappeared American teenager Natalee Holloway.

Although the year is not yet over and the figures of the number processed passengers is not definite, the airport director puts now all that the number of coming in passengers in the first half year of 2005 well was, but that this for the second half year definitely not the case is. The forecast for December is also not well. The exact figures over 2005 are announced in January 2006.

Previous year came 1.7 million passengers from foreign countries to Aruba. According to Steinmetz it is now already certain that this number in 2005, is not obtained. The airport director blame this directly to the matter Holloway.

 

[gmarine]

If you are pulling your info from the website scaredmonkeys.com, be advised this website has a history of posting false info. You cant believe anything you read on that site. It isnt a news site.

 

[rosepointe]

For those of us that fly to Aruba regularly (as well as other islands) I think it is important to note that airfares to Europe are cheaper than those to most Islands including Aruba. I have not been able to catch a $370 or $460 anytime this year. I tend to question statistics.