Tourism officials reported earlier this week that Aruba’s tourism is on the rise and could set some record numbers by the end of the year.

Quick recap of the report:

  • 2.6% more visitors year-to-date in comparison to 2006
  • This represents 28,000 more people in 2007
  • + 4.2% from USA
  • + 14.8% from Venezuela
  • + 17.2% from Colombia
  • + 23.8% from Brazil
  • + 29% from Britain
  • + 841.6% from Spain
  • - 0.3% from Netherlands

United States still represents almost three quarters of the visitors amount in Aruba consequently the 4.2% rise is the most significant growth for the island’s general economic state.

Another significant growth is Venezuela. This country represents about one tenth of the total visitors amount and puts them behind United States. Venezuela is expected to take some market share away from United States in 2008 due to the socio-economic situation at our southern neighbor. There are restrictions for Venezuelans to freely exchange money and obtain certain (luxury) products. The local retail sector is expected to benefit from this spike in numbers from Venezuela.

The British market grew due to the fact that tour operator First Choice added additional flights from Manchester. Spanish tour operator Pullmann Tours started a combination package, 1 week Caribbean cruise, 1 week Aruba.

Apparently the focus on niche markets is paying off. The last few years tourism officials are promoting Aruba as a conference island which in turn has brought many conferences and investments from countries like USA, Chile and Venezuela.

Related posts:
  1. Hot European Summer Tourism
  2. Tourism Grew Last Year
  3. New US Passport Regulation Impact On Tourism
  4. Is Aruba’s Marketing Successful Enough To Keep The Tourism Flow High?
  5. Aruba’s Growing Pains