Our Tourism Sector continues to show positive figures in 2024

The tourism sector continues to show very positive figures, contributing to job creation, foreign exchange reserves, and our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This was the central message during the first press conference for 2024 together with Curacao’s tourism partners.

The Minister of Economic Development, Mr. Ruisandro Cijntje, together with his ministry, the Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB), the Curaçao Hospitality & Tourism Association (CHATA) & the Curaçao Ports Authority (CPA) came together to provide an overview of the tourism developments of 2023 and the first four months of 2024.

Stayover tourism and Curaçao Promotion

During this press conference, CTB reported that in the first four months of 2024, Curaçao received a total of 242,680 stayover tourists, a 31% increase compared to the same period in 2023. During this period, tourists stayed a total of 2.1 million nights on our island. For this year, Curaçao will have an additional 232,000 airline seats from different markets, totaling 1.2 million seats. Over the past period, CTB participated in various tourism fairs in our target markets and coordinated several international television programs to film in Curaçao. These include, among others, GLOBO TV from Brazil and ‘Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden’ from the Netherlands. CTB also ensured Curaçao’s advertisements in various public areas abroad, such as train stations in New York, and extended promotional agreements with the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins.

The ‘Her & Bijscholing’ training program is also continuing successfully. A total of 500 people have completed these courses while 300 workers in the tourism industry also attended the Excellence in Service seminar by the Disney World training institute.

The Hotel Sector

Regarding our hotel sector, CHATA reported that in the first months of 2024, hotels in Curaçao achieved an occupancy rate of 72.8%, which is slightly higher than the 72.7% in the same period in 2023. Although this is a modest increase, these figures show stability in our visitor numbers and stayover figures. Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) increased by a total of 7.9%, from $163.47 in April 2023 to $176.43 in April 2024. Regarding our Average Daily Rate (ADR), Curaçao also saw a healthy increase of no less than 7.8%, amounting to $242.42 in April 2024 compared to $224.85 in the previous year. These figures highlight our ability to improve value and maintain competitive prices at the same time. Hotel performance up to April 2024 shows a satisfactory increase in our cumulative RevPAR, from $174.09 in 2023 to $205.55 in the same period in 2024.

Cruise Tourist in the first four months of 2024

CPA announced that Curaçao welcomed a total of 286 cruise ships in 2023, marking a 2% increase compared to the figures of 2022. Notably, we received 710,623 cruise tourists in Curaçao during this period, a substantial increase of 33% compared to the previous year. These developments can be attributed to consistent occupancy rates and an increase in the number of visitors through larger ships.

Looking at the first four months of 2024, positive developments continue with a total of 429,744 cruise tourists who have already visited our island through 163 cruise ships, which means an increase of 16% in cruise tourists and 11% in cruise ships compared to the first four months of 2023. Additionally, the average occupancy during this period in 2024 reached 92%. Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruises, and Celebrity Cruises were the cruise lines that visited our island the most. Considering the different sub-ships, Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corporation are the best represented with 46% and 36% of our market respectively, while Norwegian Cruise Line occupies 10% of the total number of cruise passengers. CPA is confident that this positive trajectory will continue, with a projection of 800,000 cruise tourists potentially visiting our island by the end of 2024.

What’s the economic impact of these developments?

Regarding the economic impact of tourism, MEO concluded that 2023 was again a very successful year. This is due to the growth of both stayover tourism surpassing the record of 500,000 tourists and cruise tourism in 2023. In 2023, the tourism sector generated a total of 4.089 billion florins for our economy compared to 3.344 billion florins in 2022 after a recalculation in the Tourism Model which was updated this year. This represents a growth rate of 22%. For the first quarter of 2024, MEO estimates that the tourism sector generated a total of 1.752 billion florins. This is based on record numbers of tourists visiting, surpassing more than 20% growth each month compared to the same months in 2023. For the rest of 2024, MEO projects that tourism will have a very positive contribution to Curaçao’s Gross Domestic Product. MEO, together with CTB, is focused on executing a short-term study of tourism carrying capacity to continue the sustainable and responsible development and growth of tourism, and also starting research to realize a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) for Curaçao with broader and more direct data on the impact of tourism based on more indicators than just the number of tourists visiting.

Download the presentation

The full presentation that was shared during this Press Conference with all the figures and graphs is also available for download by clicking here.

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