When you love Aruba, it loves you back is the new mantra driving Aruba's tourism strategy
Ronella Croes was in Toronto recently to talk about Aruba, its performance in the Canadian market, the outlook for the upcoming 2025-2026 winter season and the findings of a recently released Responsible Tourism Impact report that makes it pretty clear that travellers want to travel responsibly and, in doing so, they want to give back to the destination they’re visiting.
Observing that Aruba depends on tourism – an industry that accounts for over 70% of the country’s GDP – and that Canada ranks as the island’s second largest market, it’s not surprising that Croes, the CEO of the Aruba Tourism Authority (A.T.A.) will tell you that “we have an ‘always on’ strategy in Canada.”
That was one of the reasons for her recent visit, but Croes was also here to talk about responsible tourism and Aruba’s shift in its tourism strategy, telling Travel Courier that there are moments when it’s important to stand still “and to reflect on what strategy is required; what vision is required to make sure that tourism continues to provide and cater to the well-being of the people of Aruba, while also taking into account the high-quality experience that we are known for and want to continue to provide to visitors.”
At the same time, she continued, “taking into account other aspects that, with time, become more and more important – nature protection, culture preservation… there are a number of things that we want to protect… and that has become an integral part of the vision [for tourism].”
With a population of 110,000, Aruba welcomes about 2 million visitors annually, and as a result, Croes made it clear that any conversation about responsible tourism (and the A.T.A.’s vision of it) necessarily involves the visitor.
“Our visitors play an integral role in knowing what we stand for and making sure that collectively we protect and we take care of what we value and that they also are aware and do their bit in helping as well,” she told Travel Courier.
By taking that approach, Croes said “that will allow us to continue to be part of an Aruba that gives so much back to us as inhabitants, but also an Aruba that will also continue to give back to our visitors.”
The A.T.A.’s CEO pointed out that this is important to all of Aruba’s markets, including Canada; adding that Canada has a high level of both first time and repeat visitors. In fact, over 40% of Canadians are repeat visitors.
“So, we know that they value Aruba. We know they keep coming back because Aruba gives them a lot,” she observed.
In its survey, the A.T.A. found that 96% of Canadians surveyed said that responsible tourism is important, leading the A.T.A.’s CEO to observe that: “As a leading tourism destination, we want to make sure that visitors know – not only past visitors, but those who are evaluating where to go, where to visit – that Aruba stands for this [responsible tourism] and what it entails and how we can help you and also how you can help us.”
Canadians also recognize the climate risks for islands like Aruba, with 73% indicating their awareness of the fact that rising seas/extreme weather and climate change are threatening the eco-systems of destinations.
Yet while the survey reported that Canadians want to make a positive impact (73%) when they travel, only 16% of those surveyed believe they’ve received guidance from the travel industry on how to do that.
For Croes, this represents a huge opportunity “to communicate to those [clients] who want to visit [Aruba] and show them how they can play a role.”
One of the ways that the A.T.A. helps visitors is with the Aruba Promise, which provides a simple ‘Do’s’ and ‘Don’t’s’ approach for those vacationing on the island.
“The Aruba Promise is one of the tools we created to make it very easy for visitors, and also for the industry, to understand what are simple steps for what [the visitor] can do and what we value.,” Croes told TC. “It’s a tool that’s part of a toolkit that consists of other things, but [Aruba’s commitment to responsible tourism] didn’t start there.”
Before Covid, the Aruba Tourism Authority was already actively engaging the community, listening to the community and to the visitor.
The A.T.A.’s research also reflects the fact that there has been a shift in travellers’ expectations. People are more conscious now and travelling responsibly is “foundational to everything that is done.”
As Croes explains it, that has resulted in a critical shift in how Aruba communicates and positions itself in its markets.
“I have to talk about the big shift here which is the message that we put out there. When You Love Aruba, It Loves You Back and that is not only about traditional leisure [travel] messaging, it’s more profound,” she said.
While traditional consumer journey communications involve getting the customer to dream about the destination, to feel the destination, to want to visit the destination, now at the heart of the A.T.A.’s strategy said Croes: “Is we want you to also help to protect it [Aruba] and that has a lot to do with communications. So, before you even decide to visit Aruba, we are already talking and positioning ourselves as a destination that cares about nature protection, about responsible tourism.”
Of particular note, is the fact that based on its research, the A.T.A. knows that its “strategy matches what people believe is important,” with Croes telling Travel Courier, that “we wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t a match with potential consumers.”
In fact, Croes pointed out that the A.T.A.’s research revealed that 69% of Canadians indicate that they were willing to “do something or pay more to help the community or locals or engage in these types of things that benefit the community.”
Energized by its new strategy and vision, Aruba is also celebrating the strong performance of the Canadian market in 2025.
Croes said that up to October, Aruba has seen a 10% increase in Canadian visitors, with Canadians staying 8.7 nights on island – which is higher than the average.
Globally, the island is looking at a 5% increase in arrivals, while tourism receipts are expected to be up by from 7% to 8%.
And she told TC that: “We’re not moving away from what Aruba stands for – it’s the beaches; it’s the safety; it’s the hospitality – that’s part of our culture, part of our DNA – and that remains a key reason to visit Aruba.”
What Aruba is doing, Croes said, is elevating and augmenting its sustainability efforts to protect the island and all of the good things it provides to both its citizens and its visitors. Or, more simply put, When You Love Aruba, It Loves You Back.
