Is Aruba prepared to learn lessons from the Canary Islands?

By Greg Peterson
In April, thousands protested across the Canary Islands against their unsustainable tourism model. Similarly, protests are being heard in Amsterdam, Venice, Barcelona, and many other tourist destinations. ,,More is not better”; in fact, more comes at a cost. Continuous new ‘tourism record numbers’ are eroding both the tourism experience of visitors and the quality of life for locals.
Density and intensity comparisons:
- Aruba has 11,451 visitors per square kilometer (km2), significantly higher than the Canary Islands’ 2,167 visitors per km2;
- Aruba has 19,6 visitors per inhabitant per year compared to the Canary Islands’ 7,4 visitors per inhabitant per year;
- Both the density and intensity for Aruba compared to the Canary Islands should be interpreted as serious ‘red flags’.
Aruba’s tipping point for tourist spending on the island, the ‘optimum point’, was reached at 8 visitors per inhabitant per year. We are now far past this number and we have more than doubled it at 19,6! Aruba’s tourism has transitioned into a state of diminishing returns.
What are some of the key threats facing Aruba with such a mass tourism model?
Environmental degradation’ overuse of resources (electricity outages); waste management issues (RWZI; Rioolwaterzuiveringsinstallatie); damage to ecosystems (UTV off-roading); housing market pressure, making housing less affordable for locals; quality of life experience (crowded public beaches, noise pollution, traffic jams, increasing cost of living, and more); and let us not forget the loss of local culture (always putting tourism first erodes our unique cultural identity and traditions).
In Aruba, the strain brought about by mass tourism is increasingly noticeable, not only by locals. Our loyal visitors are also crying out for a more sustainable tourism model.
Why can’t Aruba learn from the Canary Islands, Venice, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and other mass tourism destinations?
Isn’t it time to consider implementing visitor capacity limits? Isn’t the new credo ‘value over volume’? Or is our tourism sector also going to demonstrate how stubborn it can be and wait until even more harm is done before considering a serious change of direction?
Do it for the children.

De auteur, Greg Peterson, is voorzitter van Aruba Birdlife Conservation (ABC) op Aruba. Dit opinieartikel is ter publicatie naar het Antilliaans Dagblad gestuurd.