WILLEMSTAD – The Curaçao Hospitality and Tourism Association (CHATA) held its Annual General Meeting at the Cinemas Renaissance Curaçao Resort & Casino where members received a presentation of the financial statements of the organization, an update on the challenges of the industry and an outlook for 2017.
In line with its silent campaign titled “Asina No” CHATA emphasized that in order to achieve different results in 2017, all stakeholders on the island must take responsibility for the tourism sector and take concrete actions to improve the industry.
During the official AGM, CHATA’s President & CEO, Miles Mercera opened up the meeting with the keywords “We are done talking, now It is time for action”. “As we stand on the verge of 2017, where we commemorate our 50th anniversary and we look back at 2016, the most important lesson that comes to mind is that to grow and progress one must be willing to change and take action. If we are truly committed to this industry we call our own we must commit to stepping out of our comfort zone to make things happen for Curaçao and demand that all stakeholders do the same. We have to take ownership of important issues within our community such as, safety and security of our visitors, cleanliness of our island, improved tourism experience and demand a stable government who puts tourism first.”
During the meeting CHATA also invited a panel consisting of leading tourism entities to discuss methods on how to tackle current challenges. The panel consisted of Mrs. Caroline Harter (TUI), Mr. Cedric Nubul (Hilton Curaçao), Don Werdekker (Honarary Member CHATA), Juliette Buddingh (Business Serenity) and Robbin Vogels (Avila Beach Hotel). The most important take away of the panel is that CHATA and its members are aware of the needs of the industry, take responsibility to improve the sector and are committed to making 2017 a year of action & execution.
The priorities for the CHATA Board for 2017 include the following action points:
- Growing Visitor Spending while focusing on achieving higher ADR/REVPAR.
- Advocate that the restructuring of CTDF should take place including the appointment of a professional CEO for CTB.
- Increase Arrivals with growth in Air Service (While maintaining our current Air Service)
- To be an effective public policy voice for membership.
- To be our members’ primary resource for quality and professional membership services, industry information and analysis.
CHATA concluded its meeting by encouraging all to pro-actively step out and make a change together. A change for the better. Because #tourismmatters!
Bron: CuracaoChronicle
Bert. Zeker waar. Maar na 3 dagen ben je dan uitgekeken.
Eerlijk Bert, wat je opnoemt is allemaal prachtig. Maar ga eens naar de landhuizen in Jamaica kijken. De forten in Santo Domingo of Het Kasteel in Kaapstad, ik noem maar wat dikke bomen in het bos.
Daar valt wat wij hebben bij in het niet. Wat niet wil zeggen dat we niets te bieden hebben. Maar we moeten het inderdaad hebben van ‘n exclusieve markt, niks massatoerisme. Fijnproevers zogezegd.
Zet de sneeuwbril af.
@ Bert,
Het gaat er niet om of Curacao meer te bieden heeft of niet. Natuurlijk heeft Curacao meer te bieden, maar de vraag is: ‘willen we alleen toeristen die voor dat extra’s komen of is iedereen welkom ?’
Dat is iedere keer de grote fout die we maken. Wij willen de toerist in een keurslijf dwingen en de toerist laat iedere keer zien dat hij of zij daar geen zin in heeft.
Natuurlijk gaat iedere toerist een keertje naar Punda, maar niet overdag ! Welke gek gaat er nu op het heetst van de dag door Punda lopen ? Dan zit er echt een steekje bij je los. Alleen………….’s avonds is Punda gesloten, is er niets te doen en dus moet men wel overdag als men het wil zien. Het is de omgekeerde wereld, want over de gehele wereld is het patroon van de ‘massa toerist’ hetzelfde:
‘s ochtends opstaan, ontbijtje, naar het strand, al dan niet terug op het heetst van de dag om in de schaduw te zitten. Dan rond een uur of 3 weer terug naar het strand, tot een uur of 6, biertje of wijntje pakken, naar het appartement, douchen, omkleden en uit eten gaan. Na het eten nog wat wandelen, liefst langs de souvenir stalletjes, maar bovenal even een terrasje pakken.
Op Aruba hebben ze het wel begrepen met de boulevard bij de high rise hotels. Iedere avond afgeladen vol, gezellig en veilig. Toeristen hebben plezier, geven geld uit en komen de volgende dag weer terug.
Hier op Curacao ?
We hebben er geen kaas van gegeten, we zitten de luxury tourist te vervelen met zaken waar zij geen interesse in hebben en dat wat de massa toerist wil zien weigeren we aan te bieden.
Spijt me zeer, maar dan verdien je het ook niet om toeristen te krijgen.
“They have no clue” – you said it, Joep.
Chata in aktie is:
een incestueus clubje bij elkaar onder het genot van de zoveelste Chata borrel.
Wat een klucht
Curacao heeft veel meer te bieden dan zon en strand!
Denk aan uniek Punda en Otrobanda, het Riffort, het slavernij museum, Chobolobo en natuurlijk de vele landhuizen.
Met het bijzondere van dit eiland zou je best OOK een andere toerist kunnen trekken dan de massatoerist, die natuurlijk ook welkom is. Alleen pakt de massatoerist een frietje met op Mambo, en gaat de culturele toerist naar de Wine Cellar.
Must say that the whole title is a bit ironic:
Chata: ‘We are done talkin’, now it is time for action !’
So what do they do ?
Organize a panel discussion !!!! LOL
@ Joscelin Trouwborst
Your reply may be considered ignorant. There is absolutely nothing wrong with mass tourism, in fact mass tourism is the best tourism you can have.
Reasons ?
1. Tourist who like mass tourism are looking for simple things. They want to have an affordable accomodation, they are not looking for luxury, they are not demanding in service levels and they spend a lot of money on food, drinks, entertainment, souvenirs etc
In other words, they are the easiest tourists to satisfy, as long as the sun shines, there is water in the sea and they can enjoy themselves……………they will be happy.
2. Mass tourism is the type of tourism that will keep coming back to the same location, year after year after year. In other words, you don’t need to spend a lot on marketing at all. As long as you keep providing what they are looking for they will come back.
3. The luxury tourist on the other hand is the type of tourist that will not come back to the same location. They want to see the world, so every holiday it will be a different destination. Your marketing efforts are therefore much more costly, which in turns lowers your profit per tourist.
4. On top of that the luxury tourist is looking for higher levels of luxury, which means more ammenities in the rooms, the hotels and service need to be on their toes all they long. And if you screw it up with them they will give you negative reviews real easy, which means the impact amongst other luxury travellers is immense.
5. But the biggest difference between luxury and mass tourism is just the sheer numbers. There are hundreds of millions ‘normal’ tourists and there are perhaps a million luxury tourists. And the whole world is aiming for that extremely small market segment.
In the mean time the countries that do aim for the cheaper tourist are having a blast. They make a lot of money with hardly any effort.
So please explain me again why we shoul aim at the luxury tourist and not at the lower segment of the market.
When I hear Chata (and some of the hotels) speak I realize that they don’t understand tourism at all. They have no clue what tourists are looking for and what makes them tick.
Chata and many hotels want to force their opinion on the tourists, the tourist simply has to accept. While I was always under the impression that you should give the tourist what they are asking for, because that is what sells.
Put a limit to mass tourism as well.
I will only believe government and others sitting in pluche taking tourism serious if Forti and Wilhelmina Plein are no longer parking lots; it’s a shame!
Try to invest in reducing crime. Support young drop outs. They need help, urgently.