Aruba Tourism Authority (A.T.A.) together with JetBlue Airlines and The Vault (U.S. Laboratory) announced that they will be providing their passengers travelling from the U.S. to Aruba the opportunity to do the COVID-19 test prior to reaching their destination. The tests will be conducted by The Vault.
Since September 2006, JetBlue has become a strategic and very important partner in the economic growth of Aruba’s tourism with four different gateways from the U.S. of which Aruba is a key destination to their services. During 2019, JetBlue brought a total of 254.635 which was 22.8% of the total visitors to Aruba. They are the airline with the most activity to our island. Between July and October 2020 they transported a total of 16.850 passengers to Aruba, making that a 25.1% of the total market share of the months mentioned.
Soon increase daily flights
As already known, Aruba reopened its border partially in July 2020, but with restrictions for the travelers. However, the total positive cases of COVID-19 on our island are decreasing and therefore restrictions to the travelers are being adjusted bit by bit.
As a stimulation for travelers to choose our destination as their vacation destination since the first of November 2020 the mandatory insurance of Aruba Visitors Insurance has been adjusted per stay to US$ 30 per person and US$ 10 per child under the age of 14. Aruba also eliminated the hot zone list in the U.S. Also, as per December first 2020 Aruba will be opening the border to the Latin America market with the exception of Venezuela. We will also welcome travelers from Mexico, Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The biggest obstacle travelers have to go through before travelling to Aruba is the test they have to take and upload their negative results within 72 hours before arrival. They also have the opportunity to do the test in Aruba upon arrival but need to go into quarantine for 24 hours waiting for the result. Most of the travelers prefer to have the test done before travelling. In order to facilitate this process JetBlue is offering its travelers to conduct a COVID-19 test before arriving to their destination. Aruba is the first destination to whom JetBlue is offering this.
All this effort among others will help Aruba’s economy flourish. A.T.A. would like to thank Aruba Airport Authority and the Department of Public Health (DVG) for their cooperation in order to realize this important step. Just as other destinations Aruba is also going through some challenges due to this pandemic. Therefore it is important for all of us to adhere to all protocols stipulated by the different departments. Wear a mask, maintain social distance of 1.5m, avoid crowded places, wash your hands frequently and use hand sanitizers. Together we shall overcome this and our tourism will flourish.
