Curacao: Building on the Power of the Past 10-5-2015

University of Central Florida

Dick Pope Sr. Institute Publications Report

Robertico R. Croes University of Central Florida, [email protected]

Kelly J. Semrad University of Central Florida, [email protected]

Manuel Antonio Rivera University of Central Florida, [email protected]

Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/dickpope-pubs University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu

Part of the Tourism and Travel Commons

Recommended Citation

Croes, Robertico R.; Semrad, Kelly J.; and Rivera, Manuel Antonio, "Curacao: Building on the Power of the Past" (2015). Dick Pope Sr. Institute Publications. 38. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/dickpope-pubs/38

This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies at STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dick Pope Sr. Institute Publications by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Rosen College of Hospitality Management University of Central Florida 9907 Universal Boulevard Orlando, Florida 32819

Main Investigators: Robertico Croes, Ph.D. Kelly Semrad, Ph.D. Manuel A. Rivera, Ph.D.

With the support of: Abraham Pizam, Ph.D. Asli Tasci, Ph.D. Edwin Torres, Ph.D. Kevin Murphy, Ph.D. Murat Kizildag, Ph.D. Amy Gregory, Ph.D.

Valeriya Shapoval Jalayer Khalilzadeh Marissa Orlowski William Ingram Amanda Templeton

Acknowledgment:

The Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies would like to acknowledge the support of the Curaçao Tourism Board, in particular the valuable assistance of Ms. Christine Campagnard and her staff during the data collection and tabulation process. A special thank you to Dr. Jenna Lee.

Table of Contents Executive Summary ...... 1 The Rationale ...... 1 Tourism is the Right Choice ...... 1 Curaçao’s Opportunity ...... 1 The Process ...... 2 The What ...... 2 The Value Proposition ...... 2 The Goals of the Value Proposition ...... 3 The How ...... 3 When ...... 4 The Role of the CTB ...... 4 The Way Forward ...... 4 Chapter 1: Strategic Tourism Master Plan Framework...... 6 Overview ...... 6 Purpose of the plan ...... 6 Development process...... 7 Chapter 2: Curaçao’s Opportunities for Forward Movement ...... 10 Curaçao’s strong past ...... 10 Curaçao’s tourism industry today ...... 11 Curaçao’s destination image compared to other Caribbean competitors ...... 13 Tourists’ perceptions after visiting Curaçao ...... 15 Online reviews for Curaçao ...... 16 Performance gap between tourists’ perceptions and Curaçao’s industry stakeholders ...... 18 Local residents’ perceptions of the Curaçao tourism industry ...... 19 Tourists’ future intentions to visit Curaçao ...... 21 Perception Cruise Visitors ...... 21 Tourism’s new promise ...... 22 Chapter 3: The Economic Contribution of Tourism ...... 23 Tourism spending ...... 23 The spending impact in the local economy ...... 23 The cruise business ...... 28 The economic impact of tourism ...... 29 Residents’ perceptions of tourism’s contribution ...... 30 Employees’ perceptions of career opportunities in the tourism industry ...... 31 Tourism works with misaligned local perceptions ...... 32 Chapter 4: The Effectiveness of the Tourism Industry, Human Capital, and Institutional Support ...... 33 The ROI of the tourism industry in Curaçao ...... 33 Cause and effects of declining ROI in the tourism industry ...... 35 The business environment and the low economic return ...... 37 Human capital analysis ...... 38 The CTB’s conundrum ...... 41 Chapter 5: Challenges looming on the horizon ...... 45 Tourism as best promise for the future ...... 45 Tourism and the economic link ...... 46 The soft component of tourism is under pressure ...... 48 Directio