September 21, 2008

ARUBA CONTINUES TO LIE ABOUT TOURISM





Summary:Aruba continues to lie about tourism numbers, even as a double-murderer escaped from jail in Aruba, thanks to more police incompetence.


It should be no surprise that Boycott Watch has criticized Aruba for fudging tourism numbers in the face of the boycotts called against that country because of the way they handled the Natalee Holloway disappearance, and now murder case. One of the comments made by Fred Taub, President of Boycott Watch while on Your World with Neil Cavuto on the Fox News Channel is that Aruba wanted to get the case out of the news to get tourism numbers up (See: here, here and here). Boycott Watch also broke the story about how Aruba lied about tourism numbers, claiming tourism was up when in actuality, it was down. Aruba was simply more interested in promoting their tourism industry than solving the murder, as evidenced by the fact that Aruba later admitted they lied about tourism numbers, essentially stating that Fred Taub of Boycott Watch was right all along (See: Aruba: Boycott Watch was Right!).


One would have thought, therefore, that Aruba would stop lying about tourism numbers, but that is not the case. Amigoe, the newspaper of Aruba, reported a near 90 percent occupancy of hotel rooms, and specifically 89.1% for the past eight months. In the hotel industry, that is considered full occupancy since it takes time to get rooms prepared for the next guests. Considering that it takes about an hour to properly prepare a hotel room for the next guests not to mention the food service and other tourist services, this means the islands unemployment rate would be very low, and the economy should therefore be booming.

The July 2008 report of the Central Bank of Aruba tells a different story, a "1.3 percentage points decrease to 78.4 percent in July 2008, compared to a year earlier. In essence, the Aruba Tourism Ministry is once again inflating the actual numbers to reporters in order to gain good PR. Additionally; the Central Bank of Aruba's quarterly report stated "mixed results," mainly because while tourism is up, "the construction and oil sectors incurred a slowdown in production." This is significant because the Central Bank warned Aruba that they need to diversify so they are not totally reliant on tourism. Also, construction slowdowns indicate a slowing economy.


It is clear that Aruba wants to do everything they can to increase tourism, which is the biggest chunk of their economy, and they will lie to make people think it is the hottest place to vacation, pun intended. What they will not tell you, however, is that the Aruba Police are still incompetent. Amigoe recently reported a double-murderer in their jail escaped by simply using an extension ladder. Yes, the police who botched the Natalee Holloway murder case left a ladder for murderers and other prisoners in their jail to escape with, and did not bother to make sure such prisoners were secure. Despite the small size of the island, the murderer is still free after 72 hours.


While Aruba is trying to promote a safe and secure vacation paradise, they are clearly doing a poor job proving it to the world. They claim a safe environment for tourists, yet we know they are prone to lie, even after being caught in the act and finally admitting it more than a year later. The best way to gain trust is to start by telling the truth, and Aruba appears to be addicted to lies, even while knowing their claims can be independently checked, which Boycott Watch did. Unlike the Aruba government, the Central bank of Aruba is concerned with financial reports and not political grandstanding, which is why the banking numbers are more reliable. Meanwhile, Aruba's government clearly has no problems telling the world their Island is safe, despite practically inviting one murderer to escape from jail and allowing a confessed murderer stay out of jail. Perhaps Aruba should change its motto from "one happy island" to "return-airline tickets optional."


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The police didn't BOTCH anything. They covered it up. Greta has the same problem when speaking of the case.

Anonymous said...

Aruba can't make up their mind, either steadfast Pro-Joran or standing against the US best interests. For Aruba, the idea is a death or life making decision.

Anonymous said...

The Dutch is in serious finacial troubles in Europe. The Dutch is forcing Oduber to reveal where Natalee's body is hidden. Meanwhile Joran had defaulted on the Thailand university loan and stole the scholarship money in the bank account and fled to South America.

Anonymous said...

Even more troubles are revealed by the Aruban dissidents in Holland. Aruba government has been taking bribes from Chavez, Cuba and Russia. Oduber is suspected of selling the Dutch navy defense secrets to the Netherland Kingdom's enemies. They consider Oduber has committed treasons and is a traitor plotting against the Dutch Antillies. Pos said he has the film trailers to prove Oduber's treasons. For example, Oduber's learjet landed at Chavez private airport breifly on his return China Olympic trip last moth.

Anonymous said...

Oduber said to Pos he would suspect his government for two weeks, and working with him to resolve the Joran and Chavez crisis, and rescue the failing Aruba tourism.

Anonymous said...

The airlines and cruise ships said they will drop Aruba from their itenaries due to vast empty seats and cabins. The Aruba destinations are not selling well due to their bad and corrupt police operations.

Anonymous said...

Pos accused Oduber is a real pinkie, absolutely an absurd opportunist. How could he say Aruba stimulus package come first than Natalee's justice? No wonder all the Americans are boycotting Aruba now.

Anonymous said...

Mos lamented that Oduber is really the bad boss of the Aruban people. Oduber has torn down the whole Aruba economy completely. Mos excused himself from coming to Oduber's emergency cabinet meeting. He got a new tip from a boater who found a piece of material resembling to Joran's missing shoe inside a hidden sea cave in eastern Aruba. Mos said he needed focus on Natalee's case one thing at a time, and will not have time to participate Oduber's ecomomy crisis management meeting. Mos's paycheck comes directly from the Queen's treasurer. It will not affect him even if Oduber's administration went bankrupt.

Anonymous said...

Julia Refreno, the editor of Aruba News, said the debate sponsored by University of Aruba in Montana is still on as planned on Saturday night live. Gerry Dompig, the AVP nominee, will be there. While Nel Oduber will be at work, he can call in to answer the reports panel questions about the state and economic health of Aruba.

Anonymous said...

Oduber said in his nightly Aruba 109 radio address that the "whole kingdom is in serious finacial trouble", the queen better put her oil money where her mouth is. The queen is the largest shareholder of the Dutch oil and stock company who controls 95% of the Holland Netherlands' debts and cash flows.

Anonymous said...

Pos said the meltdown will only affect the poor in the south, the Dutch elite are on a higher ground in Aruba. He didn't see the reason for the queen to put her money in to save Aruba.