Dennis E Evertsz. Curazao’s Tourism Minister

Q: You’re Deputy President of the CTO and the meeting was marked by a very strong rhetoric. We’d like to know Curazao’s stance concerning the organization’s leniency toward the English-speaking Caribbean, a hot issue that precisely fueled this debate.

A: The entire organization is like a baby: he’s born, he takes his first steps and eventually starts running. Since we’re in a developing stage right now, there are things we must take care of. Saying there’re no problems is wrong. There’re hundreds of problems. But since this is a democratic organization and the Ministers have spoken their minds –and they want the CTO to be steered in a certain direction- there’s a commission that’s going to work on that to make the CTO respond more to the Ministers.

Q: When is that change going to happen?

A: The commission is scheduled to meet next month, so we’ll be ready to deal with that particular issue in our next meeting in October.

Q: The Dominican Republic’s position, Mexico’s outing from the CTO and the overall situation in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, could all this lead to a double organization, as some have said?

A: I think that shouldn’t happen. If the Spanish-speaking countries have issues that are not going well, they must be taken care of. They must take to time to work them out and act as only one organization. Unity means strength, and I don’t think there should be two different organizations, even though I admit we’ve got a problem here and problems are supposed to be resolved.

Q: Speaking of Curazao, how much is it going to expand and what are the most interesting tourist-sending countries?

A: The U.S. market is very important to us and we’re making painstaking efforts to increase the number of American tourists, for instance, from the Philadelphia area.

Q: Are Mexico and Brazil important to you?

A: No. We’re not focusing on those markets. In the case of Brazil, though, we’ve got it on hold. We do draw a bead on Colombia and Venezuela.

Q: But these are very complicated markets right now, aren’t they?

A: Yes, they are and that’s why they represent a challenge to us because we’ve always had excellent relations with them and we’re putting out all the stops to draw them in. In the case of Venezuela, we’re talking with he the consul to iron out the bolivar problem. As far as Colombia is concerned, we’re holding talks with the Governor on the issuing of visas.

Q: Is this visa requirement having some kind of negative impact?

A: This was not a problem in the past. But when someone introduces something new, you have to get used to it. We’re trying to ease the issuing of visas.

Q; Is there anything else you’d like to say?

A: I must say the euro is doing great and that gives us plenty of room for lots of things. Even though some things may be wrong, the best chances are out there in the Caribbean.