AHATA’S 50^th ANNIVERSARY. AHATA, the Aruba Hotel & Tourism Association celebrated its 50th Anniversary on November 13^th, we marked our calendar when the e-mail arrived, then showed up on time in the ballroom of the Aruba Marriott Resort &  Stellaris Casino. The faces of the island’s tourism pioneers Eduardo de Veer, Ewald Biemans, Harold Malmberg, Rory Arends, Adwina Arends and the late Ike Cohen smiled at us off the invitation, encouraging us to attend, from 7pm to 11pm. As I sit here five days later, I am questioning myself why my fingers did not itch to report about the party, immediately, the following morning. I am usually eager to tell it all. I guess I was underwhelmed, I had a good time, but the festive, congratulatory buzz I was expecting was not there. Perhaps I go to too many parties. Anyway, according to me, we missed a great opportunity to honor AHATA’s remaining pioneers. I congratulated my friend, hotelier Ewald Biemans on the well-deserved and fully-earned Lifetime Achievement Award he received, but Ewald would not have minded sharing, he would have been equally happy with his award, had some other key-players of the industry been recognized as well. Instead they were mentioned as footnotes in the CEO’s interesting historical overview. I liked Jim Hepple’s dissertation. I would have liked it more had I been sitting comfortably. He described AHATA’s journey over the past 50 years. Naturally, it was the abridged version. I asked him if his address will be posted on line on the AHATA website. He promised it would. Alas, it’s not there. But then again that website has not been updated in years. So anyway, original cast members such as Harold Malmberg and Rory Arends could/should have joined center stage for a plaque and applause. And I am happy for Ewald, though he will have to buy an additional cabinet for his growing collection of trophies. One more thing before I go. Have you ever heard Donald Trump complimenting Barack Obama on a job well done? No. The Republicans never compliment the Democrats, right? It’s their job to forever be dissatisfied with each other. Same thing here: the Private Sector should NEVER compliment government, the Public Sector, on a job well done. Never. Even if a partial compliment is due. Telling the Minister of Tourism at an official AHATA gathering that he has done a good job, is unthinking, an undeserved token, even if it is quasi-deserving, in view of the fact that a 7% AAB is rumored to arrive on the scene January 1^st, 2016.

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