Visitors Are Exempt From Testing When Herd Immunity Is Achieved in Aruba
CEO of Aruba Tourism Authority (Ronella Croes) says testing for visitors will be dropped when collective immunity is reached in Aruba.
According to the Health Minister, herd immunity will be reached when 85% of the local population is vaccinated.
Herd immunity is important for the island, because it means being on the road to recovery for the health of our local people, tourism and economy.
The Current Vaccination Rate
According to the Prime Minister of Aruba, the vaccination rate has to be increased in order to reach the island’s goal of 85% vaccinations of the population.
You’re probably asking, how much locals have already took the vaccine?
The answer is 60.000+ locals.
This represents 59% of the island’s population, according to the Prime Minister of Aruba.
She also mentioned that 67% of the population over 60 years old are fully vaccinated.
The more locals vaccinate, the less chance there is of the virus infecting new people and keep on mutating into different strains, which our current vaccines offer no protection against.
National Vaccination Marathon
The Government of Aruba and public health department organized a second vaccination marathon, locally known in Papiamento as vacunathon.
The second edition of vaccination is meant for residents who already received a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. It’s also for locals who want to get their first dose.
This time, the event will take place on May 22 – 23, 2021.
It will be the last vaccination marathon, according to the public health department.
As of May 24, 2021 vaccinations will take place on appointments, including door to door efforts to reach all neighborhoods on the island.
Masks Will Still Be Required
Face masks will still be required in Aruba, for visitors if you are fully vaccinated or not, according to the CEO of Aruba Tourism Authority.
Vaccination Status in Aruba
These are the local stats regarding corona vaccination as of May 19, 2021.
- 58.682 locals are vaccinated
- 21.367 locals received 1st dose
- 37.315 locals received 2nd dose
- 95.997 total vaccination applied
The local vaccination status in Aruba is going to change significantly as of Monday 24, 2021, pending the results during the vaccination marathon.
Locals who are fully vaccinated are allowed to travel to and from Aruba, without the requirement to do a corona test.
This new measure for the locals is set to be effective as of June 1, 2021.
Aruba is Blessed: Tourism Keeps On Growing
Aruba keeps welcoming more and more travelers everyday – Bon Bini!
Over 58.000 tourists stepped foot on Aruba in the month of April 2021, which is an increase of 20% in tourism compared to the previous month.
It is projected that the second quarter for tourism in Aruba will continue to grow with 70 – 75% compared to the first quarter of tourism on the island.
It took over a year to reach this level of tourism recuperation, after Corona took a direct hit on the travel industry.
The Day Tourism Started To Slow Down
Between March 16th and April 20th, Aruba lost 94% of its air seats.
What was once 33,338 seats a week on March 16th, turned into 2,070 seats on April 20th, a drop of 31,268 seats.
Tourism Before The Pandemic in 2019
The Aruban economy is dependent upon its tourism industry.
According to reports from the World Travel and Tourism Council in 2019, tourism accounted for 98.3% of Aruba’s GDP of US$ 2,876 billion, and also generated 99% of all employment.
WTTC also estimated that visitors spent US$1.876 billion in Aruba in 2019.
In 2019, Aruba received 1.113.840 stopover visitors and 832,001 cruise visitors. These visitors generated 3.741 billion florins (US$2.089 billion).
On average, stopover visitors stayed 7.3 nights on the island, while cruise ships spent about 10 hours docked in Aruba.
Stopover visitors generated about 3.554 billion florins (US$ 1.985 billion and 95% of all tourism credits) while cruise visitors
generated about 180 million florins (US$ 100.6 million and 5% of all such credits).
Here’s a breakdown for the country of origin for tourism in 2019:
- 75% of Aruba’s visitors came from the USA
- 4% from Canada
- 4% from the Netherlands,
- 17% from the rest of the world.
It’s clear that the USA is Aruba’s primary market for tourism.
52% of Aruba’s visitors from the USA came from these five states:
- New York (20%)
- New Jersey
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
- Pennsylvania.
Cruise Ships Will Help Boost Tourism
Aruba is preparing to welcome the first cruise ship in June.
It’s going to be the first cruise ship to dock onto the port of Aruba after the pandemic halted all cruise travel.
The CDC has implemented strict regulations for cruise ships, including but not limited to that all passengers including crew must be fully vaccinated in order to be onboard.
According to Aruba’s tourism board, the growth of cruise tourism will eventually normalize in 2022 going forward, as the CDC potentially eases measures for cruise travelers.
Give a Helping Hand With Aruba Doet
One of the largest volunteer events on the island is taking place again this year.
The volunteer initiative was started by the Netherlands Oranje Funds in 2013 to unite people on the island and visitors to help the community with social projects.
This year Aruba Doet has a total of 167 social projects. This includes maintenance work around local schools, gardening projects, beach clean ups, paint jobs and many more needed project.
The unique thing about the Aruba Doet event is everyone join forces to give a helping hand. From local businesses to adults, teens, visitors, and kids.
This year a total of 2800 volunteers are expected to help with the social projects – are you joining the team?
The event will take place on May 28 – 29, 2021.
Sign up for Aruba Doet, if you are on the island and want to help.
Everyone is welcome to give a helping hand, just register at www.arubadoet.com
All About The Upcoming Elections in Aruba
Political parties are currently campaigning to win votes for the upcoming elections.
The Prime Minister of Aruba announced on March 30, 2021 that the Government has resigned, after the Public Prosecutor’s Office announced an investigation on the Governments coalition party (POR), short for Pueblo Orgulloso y Respeta (Proud & Respected Community).
Leader of the coalition party POR, is being investigated on suspicion of embezzlement of Government funds.
Cabinet Wever-Croes, will only manage pending cases until a new Government is elected.
A New Government Will Be Elected
The next election date was set to take place in September 2021, however, with the current situation, the election will be held on June 25, 2021.
This is the first time in history that Government election in Aruba has 12 parties.
Will only one party govern the island? Or is the Government going to be a coalition of parties, just like the Government that just resigned?
There’s new candidates to vote for, young professionals ready to change the direction of the island’s future.
According to the civil registry in Aruba, only residents with Dutch nationalities, 18 years and older can vote.
This group of voters represents a total of 70.281 voters.
Stormy Hurricane Season Expected in 2021
Local weather forecasters are expecting an “above average” hurricane season in 2021, after record setting 2020.
Last year’s hurricane season was the most active on record with 13 hurricanes and 30 storms. Six major hurricanes were ranked category 3 or higher.
Weather experts around the world are predicting numerous tropical storms during the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, in terms of activity.
If predictions are correct, this year will have 17 storms (average is 12 per season), 8 hurricanes (average is 4 per season), and 4 major hurricanes (average is 2 per season).
They also predict that 1 of those major hurricanes can possibly affect the Caribbean region.
Aruba is usually safe from storms and hurricanes, because the island is located safely outside of the hurricane belt.
If you’re looking for a safe place during the story times, visit Aruba.
Hurricane season starts June 1, 2021 until November 30, 2021.
This view can be yours…
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