Numbers put together by Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) shows that in October, Aruba received more than 21 million visitors, which is a bit more than a quarter of the number of last year’s visitors in October 2019.
‘STAY-OVER ‘ TOURISM
During October 2020, our island welcomed a total of 21.882 ‘stay-over’ visitors. Of these visitors, 20.403 were from North America, and 1.041 came from different European countries. According to data, 438 of these visitors were from other countries/islands in the region.
We must consider that the borders with Latin-America are still closed for Aruba-which will open coming December. If we compare the results with an optimistic and conservative scenario, results show an increase compared to September, but the results are under the conservative scenario.
THE VISITOR AND ACCOMMODATION
36.6% of the visitors stayed at a high rise hotel, and 6.8% stayed at a low rise hotel. 38.5% stayed at a timeshare resort, and 18.1% stayed at another alternative.
Most of our visitors during October were between the ages of 30 and 39 (4.852) and between 50 and 59 (4.434)
OUR VISITOR’S EXPERIENCE
Since the reopening of our borders, Aruba’s evaluation by the visitors improved gradually. This was measured by comments given on more than a hundred ‘review sites’ like, for example, Tripadvisor. Our visitors’ general satisfaction score was high, with a score of 9.34 (1 being the lowest and 10 the highest). This was an increase compared to pre-COVID-19 when the score was 8.83.
CRUISE TOURISM
The cruise industry has been paralyzed since the beginning of the pandemic, and there is still no date of restarting operations in the Caribbean. This industry is pending for the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to approve the recommended protocols for cruise ships regarding COVID-19.
The status of the ships that can be seen in our port is called a ‘warm lay-up,’ which means that they are on standby waiting on instructions for when the operations will re-start. This activity produces income for Aruba’s economy. There aren’t any tourists aboard these ships, only a minimum of crew members-‘skeleton crew’ who must comply will all local and international COVID-19 protocols.
TOURISM CREDITS / CENTRAL BANK OF ARUBA
According to the Central Bank of Aruba’s ‘Tourism Credits’ (previously called ‘Tourism Receipts’), the 1st quarter of 2020 contributed 1.017.9 million to our economy, which is 7% less compared to the 1st quarter in 2019, due to the effect of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Aruba also had to close its borders temporarily from March 2020 until July 2020.
Many other destinations, just like our island, are going through difficult moments because of the pandemic. We need to continue following protocols. Together we will overcome, and our island and tourism will continue prospering.
