Cargo Piers Moving

[Arubalisa]

Aruba Update: Cargo Piers Moving + More Tourism Development
Thursday, 23 June 2011

Aruba has begun a $62 million process of moving its cargo facilities away from tourist attractions and the cruise port, said Ronella Tjin Asjoe-Croes, CEO of the Aruba Tourism Authority, in an interview with Cruise Industry News.

The target date for completion is about two years away, and the island has just opened the bidding process for the job. Existing cargo facilities will probably be converted to attractions or more cruise berths, she said.

But the island is aware that it needs to keep an eye on how many ships can berth at once.

“We need to improve the quality of our experience on a continuous basis,” said Asjoe-Croes.

And that may be the case, as cruise traffic for the first five months of 2011 was up by 38,795 passengers.

In March, Aruba received a record-setting 100,000 passengers.

However, “we remain focused on quality over quantity,” added Asjoe-Croes, who is the first CEO of the new Aruba Tourism Authority.

The island-nation is also busy installing San Francisco-like trollies to allow better tourist movements.

A $20 million airport refurbishment and “facelift” project is also well underway, and, additionally, kiosks are being placed in cruise terminals that offer various local products. A new Ritz Carlton property is expected to open in 2012.

Beaches are just 10 minutes away from the cruise ships by bus ($2.25 each way per passenger), and Asjoe-Croes noted that tour operators were meeting cruise lines’ expectations.

“Tour capacity is extremely important to them,” she commented.

A small percentage of Aruba’s hotel room tax is being put into a tourism development fund that will support cultural and green projects.

[AndyM]

Very interesting! Thanks for posting this.

[cindyo]

i am also very interested in an article I read about a beach walkway from one end to the other. ANyone else heard about this??

[Eagle Beach Boy]

Originally Posted by cindyo

i am also very interested in an article I read about a beach walkway from one end to the other. ANyone else heard about this??

The walkway from the airport up to town is being done now.

My question re the the new container area is... "Where are the ships going to unload the containers?"
Is a new harbor going to be build below the airport" Through the island there?

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by cindyo

i am also very interested in an article I read about a beach walkway from one end to the other. ANyone else heard about this??

Construction of Aruba Linear Park to Begin

TERA Park, A New Green Island Attraction

Originally Posted by Eagle Beach Boy

The walkway from the airport up to town is being done now.

My question re the the new container area is... "Where are the ships going to unload the containers?"
Is a new harbor going to be build below the airport" Through the island there?

It is going to Barcadera http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=12.479...2&z=15&l=0&m=b. There is already some shipping going in there, there is already a deep water channel (you can see the channel in the wikimapia link), right now containers are not going in there. More detailed information http://www.arubaports.com/cargo/barcadera.html

[danadog56]

that would be really nice for them to clean that up...especially when "newbies" are being taken to their hotels...not the nicest looking part of the tour to be sure....

[~Amy~®]

Originally Posted by Eagle Beach Boy

The walkway from the airport up to town is being done now.

My question re the the new container area is... "Where are the ships going to unload the containers?"
Is a new harbor going to be build below the airport" Through the island there?

As Lisa said, it will be moved to the Barcadera which is just south of the airport not too far from the Balashi Brewery. We've been there a few times over the years to get fresh shrimp from the fishermen. We used to be able to get the shrimp downtown from the piers behind The Paddock but the Gov't moved them because they didn't want the cruise ship people to be bothered with such an "eyesore". (Yes, I am using sarcasm here - especially since there is now an "eyesore of an empty condo bldg" there now.)

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by danadog56

that would be really nice for them to clean that up...especially when "newbies" are being taken to their hotels...not the nicest looking part of the tour to be sure....

Imo, they need to do something with the Bushiri property as well .

[~Amy~®]

Originally Posted by danadog56

that would be really nice for them to clean that up...especially when "newbies" are being taken to their hotels...not the nicest looking part of the tour to be sure....

And I find the container shipping area fascinating. It's a huge part of business/living on an island - everything comes and goes from those containers. I like to see the real part of the island (or any destination/city for that matter) - not the glossy front they want tourists to see - that's just plain boring and doesn't make travel interesting.

[AndyM]

Originally Posted by Arubalisa

Imo, they need to do something with the Bushiri property as well .

I heard they were going to tear that down and make a small beach for cruise ship passengers to use.