Q & A with Mr. PesqueraDirector of the Aruba Hotelier Association

Q- Your leaving Puerto Rico with all the expertise you’ve piled up through so many years in the travel sector, especially in the field of congress and incentives, as well as with everything that has something to do with the European market, what changes will they bring to the marketing of Aruba?

A- I’m still doing a little bit of research and seeing the possibility of making this market grow much further. Sketching out a plan or having a vision in the few weeks I’ve been in this position is pretty hard. Nevertheless, I believe that Aruba, with all the conveniences it has right now and with all the expansion plans in the works in a number of hotels, the building of new banquet rooms and congress halls, could perfectly snare a bigger chunk of the convention and incentive market. In the short run, I think the incentive market is coming naturally to Aruba.

The natural beauties, the kindness and good-heartedness of the people, the exceptional treatment they provide tourists with. This is a special place on the face of the earth and that’s why I’m twice as much convinced that I made a very wise decision and that I’m in the right place at the right time.

Q- The fact that Aruba is an island nation where a considerable percentage of the population speaks at least four languages, could this play a role in giving this kind of specialized tourism a big boost?

A- Absolutely. I had the chance of attending a gathering of the Meeting Professional International (MPI) in Scotland a few weeks ago. In that event, I had the fortune of meeting the presidents of the MPI Chapters in the Netherlands, England and France. I was the only representative from the Caribbean in that conference, and it’s my belief that the presence of Aruba there triggered great interest in some people. I also had the chance of talking with my friend Paul Flacket that, you know, he manages the IMEX Fair. He showed a tremendous interest in bringing the board of directors form the SITE Foundation (Society of Incentive Travel Executives) to Aruba, and that could turn out to be quite a backing, a symbolic and strong rebirth to lure incentive travel groups to this amazing island.

But there’s no doubt in my mind that the possibility of speaking in Spanish, Dutch and English, let alone in the local tongue (Papiamento) with most of the Aruban population improves dramatically the kind of service that Aruba offers to visitors and groups compared to most of the Caribbean destinations.

Q- You’ve got great expertise of the European market, don’t you?

A- Frankly, my approach has always been, given the nature of my functions with the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, focused on the North American market. However, I’ve had the chance of working with Lisa Altieri, the person in charge of these European markets in Puerto Rico –based in Spain in the past- and representing the island in some of Europe’s major fairs and tradeshows. I don’t see myself as an expert in European markets, but I do believe Europeans have a stronger liking for Aruba than for Puerto Rico. You bet direct access through KLM and the ever-growing number of European visitors over the past year are strong indicators of where the trend is actually headed for.

Q- I think that, as you’ve just said, with Lisa Altieri you’ve been able to size up European markets, and Spain in particular. Therefore, this has been highly positive every step of the way. I believe right now you’ve got some pretty good information from the standpoint of congress and incentives, yet you’re not going to be solely centered on congress and incentives. Your position there will have to do with everything related to hotels and hoteliers, isn’t it so?

A- Absolutely. My responsibility is to run a hotel and tourism association that gathers a huge part of the island nation’s business community within the travel industry, and provide them with opportunities and trade and educational tools, as well as other things that could help us make overall advances.

Q- How do you assess Aruba’s stance and its grip of the European market? Do you think you ought to further advance your position in these countries of the European community?

A- I haven’t had the opportunity yet of seeing the working plan with all the marketing and promotional elements that Aruba has been working on in Europe up to this moment.

I do know there’s been quite an increase of visitors from the Netherlands and other European countries, chiefly from Holland all through 2003 and in the early 2004. Of course, the heftiness of the euro right now is giving this market quite an edge.

I can talk to you, however, about some of the activities that the Aruba Hotelier Association organizes together with the Aruba Tourism Authority, like, say, the annual Aruba Tourism Conference, an event usually attended by some of the best tour operators in the U.S. A few weeks ago, there was this meeting called CATA (acronym in Spanish for Aruba Annual Tourism Conference) that targets exclusively the Latin American market. So, these two events have given me an idea of how this working plan has been faring on these two sides of the world, and I think the going couldn’t have been any better, honestly. If this is a reflection of what this staff has done or will do in Europe, you bet we have a pretty bright future on the road ahead.

What I’ve seen is that the current level of collaboration between the private sector and the Aruban government is excellent. There’s a great sense of unity and effort integration. The director of the Aruba Tourism Authority is a very professional executive and her staff has proved to be effective and hardworking. I’ve also had the chance of meeting with Minister Edison Briesen (Transportation and Tourism), and to me, he seems like a highly committed person with a far-reaching vision of the future.

Q- Will you pay a visit to the EITBM to take place next year in Barcelona for the first time?

A- I’ve been toying with that idea, but I haven’t made up my mind yet. I’m still considering my attendance to the IMEX Fair in Frankfurt.

Some people say that organizers of the EITBM are going to do their best the best way they know how this time around to prevent IMEX –their new competitor- from taking some of their ground. It’d be interesting to attend that event because I think Aruba should make a greater effort to support this tremendously interesting market.

I hope that in the months ahead, as soon as I get more familiar with all investments and efforts linked to the markets that Aruba has traditionally worked on, I’ll be able to give you more concrete and precise answers about the outreach of our endeavors in Europe. Many thanks for giving the opportunity of talking with Caribbean News Digital in the early days of my tenure in Aruba.