WILLEMSTAD - Paul Pennicook, director of the Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB), says in an interview with the Dutch radio station Paradide FM that more airlines are scheduled to return to Curaçao in October and November.
This is not a guarantee, but Pennicook says it has been planned so far. If this actually happens, Pennicook also expects better tourism figures for Curaçao. The CTB director also says that the curfew can actually be a solution for hotels, so that tourists can offer entertainment within the hotel.
After CHATA announced that they are not expecting any positive improvement in tourism any time soon, Pennicook says that it is important to put the numbers into perspective. Curaçao had a total of 9270 visitors in August of which 55% stayed in resort hotels. In July when Curaçao opened the borders for visitors again, the island had 8100+ visitors. Only 45% stayed in resort hotels. In August there was an increase in visitors and an increase share stayed in resort hotels.
Pennicook commented that there two main factors why Curaçao will not see much improvement in the numbers in September. “First, this month is traditionally much slower. Second, the post COVID environment, which the island is still not out of yet, but the world in which we are operating today, is a much more difficult market because we what we are finding is that people in these countries like the Netherlands, Germany etc. they are opting to do more vacation at home. In Europe, where they can drive as supposed to go oversea. So, we do not expect any major improvement in September.”
Pennicook says that on the other hand, CTB is forecasting better numbers in October and November on the assumption that more markets will open by that time. “It is important that we remember that because with what is going on at the moment locally and in some of our main markets, there is no guarantee, that we will have these additional markets open in October.”
The CTB Director says that he is hoping for the best. “If the other markets open and the other airlines begin to come back as they are currently scheduled to do, then we should have better numbers in October.”
Pennicook believes that the small spread of the virus that is currently taking place is under control and it is managed well by the health authorities. The measures announced which came into effect on Thursday does not mean that the island will go back into a lockdown. And the curfew should not be seen as something negative. “If they clients need to go back to the hotels earlier, at 11pm, the hotels need to become creative and provide entertainment.”
