It’s been nearly three years since Sandals first opened its resort in Curacao, the property debut that just about single-handedly modified the sport for tourism on the Dutch Caribbean island.
And Curacao has been hotter than ever, with greater than 700,000 stayover guests final 12 months and a really sturdy begin to 2025, as Caribbean Journal reported.
Now, with continued record-breaking tourism arrivals, native officers are working to be sure that as its development continues, it’s executed in a sustainable manner.
Curacao has launched a brand new partnership with Sustainable Journey Worldwide and the George Washington College Worldwide Institute of Tourism Research that can see the execution of a Vacation spot Carrying Capability Research, Caribbean Journal has realized.
The thought is to create a framework for evaluating the multifaceted impacts of accelerating tourism, one which creates a “balanced, mutually-beneficial business that maximizes financial advantages whereas safeguarding the island’s ecosystems, preserving its cultural heritage, and enhancing customer satisfaction and neighborhood well-being.”
Whereas “overtourism” could also be a priority, this “isn’t about limiting tourism,” Sustainable Journey Worldwide’s Paloma Zapata says.
The objective is to create a virtuous cycle the place considerate tourism development strengthens neighborhood well-being and preserves the island’s distinctive attraction over time.”
That interprets to one thing they name “high-value, low-impact” tourism.
It additionally shouldn’t be an insurmountable problem on an island that has one of many Caribbean’s simplest blends of local-visitor concord within the expertise, a powerful infrastructure and an island with various areas with a really low density of growth.
