We are actively moving towards a more sustainable tourism model.
In a previous column, June 24th, I mentioned the charming 13-minute speech of the prime minister at the party celebrating the completion of phase 1 of Gateway 2030, at Reina Beatrix Airport, which also served as farewell to diligent AAA CEO, Joost Meijs.
What was missing, from the speech, I asked, and answered:
What we all think and feel, the pull and push between economic development and over-tourism, the mention of the delicate balance between what is good for the locals and what is good for visitors. The speech reflected NOTHING of the conflict we breathe and experience every day on our roads, on the beaches, on our infrastructure level. One day, one of them will have to acknowledge the dilemma we have with all this laissez–faire growth in the volume of arrivals.
One of them just did: The Minister of Integrity, Nature, Transport and Elderly Care, Ursell Arends, said the following at the 30th anniversary party of Paradise Beach Villas: As we look towards the future, we recognize the importance of balancing development with sustainability. As most of you know, I came directly from the tourism sector, specifically the timeshare industry. I have witnessed drastic changes, but I have also witnessed the need for balance. Aruba’s economy is deeply intertwined with our natural environment, and we are committed to preserving it for future generations. We are actively moving towards a more sustainable tourism model, where the interests of nature are in harmony with development. We are listening to our long-time visitors, and we are also listening to you, the industry itself, whose love and dedication to enhancing Aruba’s reputation inspire us to protect and cherish our beautiful island……let us continue to work together to make Aruba a place of beauty, sustainability, and warm hospitality.
At least, it is said, by one minister. We want to hear them all singing the same tune.
Congratulations to Paradise Beach Villas on 30 years of excellence.
PKF celebrates first anniversary.
Edsel Lopez and Herbert van Elferen with a recently recruited tax partner, Nicole Duijvelshoff entertained clients for a Friday happy hour in their current address, a stonethrow away from the previous address on L.G. Smith. Edsel reports he likes the location and has been a tenant under the same landlord for 30 years.
PKF is in the assurance, advisory, tax and audit business, and Edsel explains they are working smart, not big, not opening offices around the globe, no more dozens of employees, technology and connectivity replaced the overhead and facilitates 21-century efficiency and control.
Invitees congregated in the disco-lit hall, finding shelter from the heat outside, inside, in air-conditioning. Edsel gets the Oscar for resilience, his clients should appreciate that, emerging stronger from whatever life threw at him. And at this point I have to quote a famous Frank Sinatra song, That’s Life, the chorus: I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king, I’ve been up and down and over and out, and I know one thing, each time I find myself lying flat on my face, I just pick myself up and get back in the race, that’s life.
Oranjestad, 200th birthday!
On Plaza Nikki Habibe, at the almost end of the main street, a light blue building lent itself to a popup expo by Stichting Rancho commemorating the 200th year anniversary of Oranjestad.
I hope that my 200th birthday will be celebrated in a more inspiring manner.
And thank you Stichting Rancho for acknowledging the date, it is more than anyone else has done.
The expo featured some poor reproduction of then and now pictures of Oranjestad and is a testimony to Aruba’s cultural indifference.
I wrote about the 200th anniversary before, I pictured it as a community effort where each business finds a creative way of commemorating the birth of our capital, with a special edition of this and a limited issue of that. Hundreds of little ways to remember we are 200 years old. But that requires inspiring, dynamic organization, and we are not rich in that area.
The lovely plaza needs urgent TLC, it is dirty. It could be a fantastic asset to the neighborhood, but the water element is broken, and the place looks neglected, abandoned. The Friday night concert at Djiespie’s Place is the plaza’s redeeming feature. Free music, and the elderly in our community love it, dancing the evening away.
