The Aruba tourism Authority together with different tourism organizations hereby informs the community of the current situation regarding the tourism industry according to information gathered for the month of September 2020.
Air traffic
During the month of September 2020, Aruba had a great increase in active Covid-19 cases. It was announced that Aruba was listed as code orange to the Netherlands which caused an adjustments in the scheduled flights. According to AAA (Aruba Airport Authority) the most active airlines for that month were American Airlines – Jetblue – Delta Airline – United Airlines – KLM, Air Century y Spirit. There were also humanitarian flights directed to Venezuela.
‘STAY-OVER’ tourism
During the month of September 2020 our island welcomed a total of 14.697 ‘stay-over’ visitors. In which, a total of 13.576 were from North America, 784 from different parts of Europe and 337 visitors from other countries and regions. Currently, all Latin American borders are still close for Aruba, but they are aiming on re-opening soon.
Visitors and accommodations
61.4% of the visitors stayed at a hotel, 35% at a timeshare resort and 19.7% at an alternative accommodation. A total of 65% (9.608 total) visited our destination for the first time and 33% (4.777 total) were ‘repeat visitors’. A total of 2% (312 visitors) did not mention this and therefor were not included in the resume. Ages of the visitors varied between 30 and 39 years (3.744) and between the ages of 50 to 59 (2.850).
Cruise tourism
The Cruise Tourism had been paralyzed since the start of this pandemic and there is still no official date for a re-start of the operations in the Caribbean Region. The industry is pending for CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to approve the recommendations and protocols related to Covid-19 for cruise ships. However, at the Mediterranean region the cruise operations have restarted upon approval of the protocols by the European Union and the operation here of is going very well. Aruba is waiting on the approval of CDC to reinitiate the cruise operation for the Caribbean region, since this had led to a strong economic impact for our island. You might have noticed some cruise ships in our terminal, these are called the ‘warm lay-up’, which refers to ships on standby. They are waiting on instructions as soon as operations resume. This activity produces and income for the island. There are no tourists on the cruise ships. They are operating with a skeleton-crew only and they have to follow all local and international protocols strictly.
Tourism credits / Central Bank of Aruba
According to the Central bank of Aruba the so called ‘Tourism Credits’ previously known as ‘Tourism Receipts’ contributed to AWG 1.017.9 million in our economy for the first quarter of 2020. This is 7% less compared to the same season in 2019. This off course due to the Covid- 19 pandemic in which Aruba closed it border back in March 2020. Just as many other destinations Aruba is facing difficult times and challenges. It is of great importance to continue adhering to all protocol as stated by all the departments concerned. Together our island we shall overcome this and our tourism will flourish again.
