CTB’s press conference.
WILLEMSTAD--The Curaçao Tourist Bureau (CTB) is forecasting an increase in visitors even though airlift capacity to the island has been reduced for the coming months.
CEO Paul Pennicook, Deputy Director Hugo Clarinda, Director of Marketing Rebecca Marval and Business Intelligence Manager Christine Campagnard presented the latest updates and scenario for September and October as well as the projected continued growth in stayover arrivals.
“Last week there was a lot of news and discussion about loss of airlift and the likely impact of this development on the economy. With tourism a main economic pillar and air transport an integral component of such, it is understandable that there would be concerns if in fact there was a massive loss of air seats to the destination,” said Pennicook.
He added that after visiting and speaking with the airlines directly he can now give a full update on the flight scenario.
For September and October, the combined number of incoming seats was 33,477 on American Airlines, JetBlue and Avianca. After the schedule adjustments and cancellations there will now be 20,380.
However, there will also be an additional 4,672 seats (Wingo and Caribbean Airlines) this September/October that were not available last year. Therefore, the net loss of seats is 8,425.
The primary reason for the changes during the fall is that historically this period has always been regarded as the off-season in both North- and South America. The problem is compounded by the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX.
Regarding the lack of demand for the destination, Pennicook outlined the arrivals performance for 2018 and 2019 so far, demonstrating a positive trend. Last year Curaçao welcomed a total of 431,667 stayover visitors, resulting in an 8 per cent increase compared to 2017, with 32,654 more guests.
This continued in 2019 showing double-digit growth (16%) from January till June with 237,750 tourists so far. The top six countries of focus all saw hikes: Netherlands (+11%), United States (+13%), Canada (+10%), Colombia (+58%), Germany (+26%) and Brazil (+21%).
Singling out the US market, Pennicook said that there was 20 percent increase in arrivals last year to 73,000. In 2019 so far there is a further 13 per cent increase.
The main driver of demand in a leisure destination like Curaçao is new rooms coming on stream, the CEO explained. He went on to explain that the performance in 2018 and 2019 so far was all achieved without a single new room.
“The good news is, we have new rooms coming on stream later this year that will not only help us to maintain growth momentum but should actually result in increased demand. Added for this winter will be the Marriott with 336 rooms, Dreams Resort with 200 and the former “Howard Johnson” with 80.
In the first quarter of 2020 Corendon Beach Resort will also open with 400 rooms.
There are also developments regarding new airlift and discussions continue with multiple carriers.
Already confirmed for winter 2019-2020 season are Air Canada with an Increase from three to four weekly flights from Toronto and a fleet upgrade of the Montreal flight from an A319 to a B737-800, Condor with direct flights from Frankfurt coming only to the island (not shared) and KLM with four more weekly direct flights (not shared).
With new rooms coming online and anticipated additional airlift the CTB is confident that there will be continued growth in the local hospitality industry.
