Curaçao’s tourism outlook for 2022 is quite positive. The upward trend started in 2021 with substantial improvement in visitors’ increase and spending pattern. During the last six months of 2021, Curaçao received more visitors from the Netherlands than during the same months in the pre-COVID period of 2019. The CTB Interim CEO expects continuous growth this year. The tourists spend more.
The prices of the hotel rooms are higher, but this does not affect the occupancy rate, which is also higher compared to 2019. Although the CTB has not investigated the cause of the increase, Clarinda assumes that it has to do with the fact that the lockdown and containment measures limited visitors’ spending in the last years, spurring their current spending power. After so many months of being confined to their houses, the travelers seem more than willing to give out more. They are willing to pay for a higher hotel room and consume more at the restaurants and other attractions.
Source market diversification
One of the main emphases of the new strategy is boosting the stream of visitors from the USA. An analysis of Curaçao’s current visitors market shows that the island is well positioned in the European tourism market. Tourists from the Netherlands, for instance, make up 70% of the visitors. This used to be 50%. The Latin American market is also growing steadily, with Colombia on top of the tourist source market.
The USA, identified as an important market, is lagging somewhat behind in the current scenario, which explains the focus on developing this market.
The CTB has an impressive task to activate the American tourist market. To get this market going, Curaçao needs more airlifts. The CTB will dedicate efforts to create more airlifts between the USA and Curaçao, but also from new areas, such as Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Dallas. There are currently flights from American Airlines, Jetblue, and United Airlines from Miami and New York, but the intention is to increase the number of flights and the points of departure to get to Curaçao. An Airlift Committee has been formed consisting of the CTB, the Curaçao Airport Holding, and the Curaçao Hotel and Tourism Association (CHATA). Clarinda explains that the CTB will boost Curaçao’s promotion in the USA and engage in negotiations with airlines to convince them to include Curaçao in their schedule.
A Curaçao delegation will soon start a roadshow to several airline conferences and tradeshows in the USA, Europe and Latin America.
The Caribbean is another market that Curaçao wants to target more. The challenge with developing tourism from the Caribbean is the lack of airlifts, making it very difficult to travel between the Caribbean islands. In this respect it is to be applauded that the local airline Jet Air is expanding its flights in the Caribbean. The CTB supports them with their marketing and promotion. “It important to increase the accessibility in the region if you want to develop tourism from the region.
The same goes for opening the borders again with Venezuela. The expectation is that this will be realized during the first half of this year”, says Clarinda.
Current projects
For USA visitors, it is essential to have hotel brands that they know. In that sense, CTB considers the opening of the well-known Sandals Resort this year a significant addition. The same goes for the Marriott Courtyard, planned to open in October, and the expansion of the Corendon-Hilton alliance. Other renowned brand names that add to the local offering are Zoetry and Dreams. There are more exciting projects in the pipeline, such as the extension of the Dolphin Academy facilities, expansion of the Kontiki Beach, and construction of the Mambo hotel. In the downtown area of Punda, Scharloo, and Otrobanda, there are projects in the Marichi area. The lush ‘The Warf Apartments’ building is in full swing. At the same time, the brand name Best Western will be added to the hotel on the Brionplein and Hotel Otrobanda will soon restart building activities. Its opening encountered some delay due to unexpected construction issues, which required a higher investment than anticipated. The hotel is expected to open this year.
Much attention goes to further improvement of the quality of the accommodation facilities for tourists, attractions, and service. Most hotels, including the smaller ones, have a high occupancy rate at the moment. The Colombian tourists stay mainly in smaller accommodations. Most airlines from Europe are fully booked until April.
The restaurant sector is also experiencing a boom. Without a reservation, it isn’t easy to get a good table at the popular restaurants. This is a good development for the restaurant and signals a need for more investments in this branch.
Staffing challenges
The demand for qualified staff is big. Sandals Resort will need more than 800 workers and will probably have difficulty getting all the required staff locally. Courtyard Marriott is planned to open in October. This hotel has 150 rooms and will need around 300 personnel. According to their declaration in the media, they have no problems finding the necessary workers. The Corendon-Hilton Hotel is currently finishing the expansion of the hotel, which creates around 200 new job openings.
With all the new hotel expansions, the demand for staffing has become a severe problem. Sandals Resorts and the government have organized several events where interested persons can get more information and apply. Curaçao has several education programs directed at the hospitality industry, from basic positions to higher management. Still, the current output is not enough to fulfill the growing demand. This is calculated at 400 to 500 new jobs per year for the coming period. An alternative training path is therefore required. The CTB is setting up additional training programs together with the CHATA. It will take some time before their output will be sufficient to fill all the vacancies. In the meanwhile, the hotels will probably have to fulfill some of the positions with foreign workers.
Recommendations for local investments
Clarinda sees several opportunities for local investments, especially in the demand for more local activities such as attractions, events, and restaurants. This becomes apparent when there are many tourists on the island. With the cruise tourism also showing a strong recovery, it can get quite crowded at the popular beaches like Mambo, Seaquarium, and Jan Thiel, when large tour busses arrive with some 400 visitors. The government has therefore started to make the necessary adaptations to the public beaches to be included in the tour schedules. The restaurants reservations overload is expected to increase with the revoking of the Pandemic measures and shows the need for more investments in that area.
The elimination of the COVID measures will have a positive effect on the organization of events. It is still not clear if the North Sea Jazz Festival will continue this year, but the International Blues Festival is planned to take place in April. There is room for more events to entertain the visitors.
Curaçao’s tourism development looks bright and the CTB is tapping into this flow. For now its strategy entails diversification of the tourist source markets, enhancing the local tourist products with more accommodations and quality improvement, and encouraging the development of more attractions.
The focus is on diversification and acquiring more flights from other areas such as Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Dallas.
The strategic plan will include more details, but the main focus is now on targeting the USA market, expanding the local attractions, and elevating the local service quality.