March 10, 2007

ARUBA'S LATEST TOURISM INFO




Following the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in May 2005, the remainder of 2005 and into 2006 showed a sharp decline in tourism. 2005 saw sharp decreases in the tourism numbers in Aruba as compared to 2004. It is hard to believe that the 2006 Aruban tourism numbers shrank even more.


Does Aruba really want to exchange "stay over visitors" for "cruise ship passengers"?




It's been a far cry from "the Natalee Holloway" situation going away in four days. The two year window for the three suspects in on the horizon. What message will Aruba send to the world as to how they deal with crime against tourists?






In the first eleven months of 2006, stay-over visitors and total nights spent on the island shrank cumulatively by 6.8 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.



In November 2006, the number of stay-over visitors and their nights spent on the island went up by 4.4 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, compared to the corresponding month in 2005. Data on the occupancy rate indicate a decrease of 2.9 percentage points to 76.6 percent in November 2006, compared to a year earlier. However, a 1.3 percentage points increase was recorded in December 2006, compared to December 2005, bringing the occupancy rate for that month to 75.7 percent.


The average occupancy rate for the year 2006, compared to 2005, fell by 4.6 percentage points to 77.1 percent. The number of cruise passenger arrivals and ship calls rose by, respectively, 2.4 percent and 27.5 percent in December 2006. For 2006 as a whole, the number of cruise passengers grew by 7.0 percent to 591,474, the highest number ever recorded. (Aruba Central Bank)


(Source)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is your stance on the latest remarks of the Director of the ATA? In a discussion, again, with the Minister of Justice Rudy Croes, she stated, a.o., that in November American tourism was up 5.6% and December it was up even 14.6%. Mind you, these are US tourists numbers, not the total pictures.

Michelle Says So 2.0 said...

Right on Jen! Your words speak for thousands!

Anonymous said...

Great answer, jen3560!


I would have responded:

BECAUSE BIG PEOPLE LIE

Right, nadira?

Anonymous said...

O.K. So I guess you're saying that they are lying about the rise in tourism numbers out of the US.
But how can you corelate that with the fact that Yesterday Royal Caribean Cruiseline signed a deal with Aruba to develop the whole harbor and make it one of their 'homeports'. Whatever you might think, I doubt that RCC would, being one of the biggest cruiselines in the Caribean, spend millions to develop a port where tourism is in such a sorry shape as you are stating. Or for that matter, in a place that, if one reads all the posts on this site, Spawn of Crime and Hell.
Just wondering what U might be thinking.