Q & A with Edison BriesenAruba´s Tourism Minister

by Jose Carlos de Santiago

CHIC 2006, recently held in Miami, Fla., panned out to be a major chance for Aruba to bask in the limelight. Two of its flagship hotels grabbed the Green Globe Awards for the Caribbean, and Jorge Pesquera, President and CEO of the Aruba Hotel & Tourism Association (AHATA), was honored as the region´s best exec.

Aruba Tourism Minister Edison Briesen talked exclusively with Caribbean News Digital about the significance of these well-deserved recognitions.

Q.- During CHIC 2006´s first session, Aruba turned out to be the most recognized country. What´s actually going on in Aruba that the island is raking in important awards like these?

A.- I believe we´re definitely having a job well done. Good cases in point are the two hotels that nabbed awards and the Best Executive of the Year Award that went to Jorge Pesquera. To us, this is a tremendous encouragement to continue doing what we´ve been doing up to now in Aruba, to offer our visitors a better day than the one before.

Q.- The two Green Globe Awards won in this year´s CHIC make Aruba the Caribbean´s number-one nation as far as the amount of hotels labeled in this category is concerned, am I right?

A.- I think so. There are some six or seven hotels within the Green Globe category right now. I don´t really know we´re topping the list of hotels, but I can tell you that we have a far broader vision that goes beyond the mere fact of luring more guests and reaping more profits. We´re committed to environmental protection, and that´s a top priority for all of us.

Q.- The U.S. market has been doing good lately. How is that rebound seen in Aruba as we speak?

A.- We´ll be holding the Marketplace in January, and that´s going to be a chance for us to explore some 1,200 to 2,000 attendants. Aruba always overcomes the challenges it has to cope with and I must say the last three years have been pretty successful for the local hotel industry in particular. We have had a slight slump in the U.S. market since September 2005 –that as matter of fact it´s out top outbound market. But things are going smoothly right now and we´re doing everything within our reach to get over that situation.

Q.- The Brazilian market is on a roll right now and we learned that you´ve just signed an agreement with the Brazilian government.

A.- We traveled to Rio de Janeiro last week and there we sat down with the members of the association that regulates all air traffic in Brazil. We used to have a bilateral accord that had been in force since 1988, but we´ve now enhanced that agreement. As a result of that expansion, we´ve jumped from a couple of weekly light to a weeklong air coverage. Before the new agreement was inked, our flights only landed in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, the only two cities we could make further air connections with. Now we have nonstop flights to both cities, to Manao, and even fly on to Buenos Aires from one of those points and from there back to Aruba. That expands our chances in the market.

Q.- Can you give us an update about the new cruise terminal and port being built in Aruba?

A.- We´ve made a decision, as government officials, alongside the public corporation that´s running the port because we want to start the refurbishment of the port facilities this very year. We want to move the cargo crane away in the second half of this year, in the Port of Oranjestad, and rehabilitate the cruise terminal. There´s plenty of room there and the immediate plans include the possibility of building a mega yacht terminal with a condo and a shopping mall.

Q.- Is the entry of Hard Rock Café and Meliá Hotels conditioned in any way to this enhancement?

A.- No, I don´t think so. As I said, there´s plenty of room to do this. It´s a megabuck plan of nearly $160 to $170 million. I guess as soon as we start moving the cargo facilities away, the groups interested in pulling off this project, in building the necessary infrastructure of the mega yacht terminal, could hop in. I believe there´re tremendous interest in this project, and the Spanish groups are interested in it, too.

Q.- What does Aruba plan to do to improve the road infrastructure?

A.- Our government appointed a Minister to do that job. There´re several roads that need to be improved and new ones that have to be built. We want to get cracking this year with a new road between Oranjestad to San Nicolas because there are constant traffic deadlocks on this two-lane road that remain busy most of the day. We think that the idea of opening a new tourist zone on the side of Aruba takes the building of new highway.

Q.- How long will it take for that road to be finished?

A.- I think it´ll probably take two to three years for that new road to be ready.