AHATA: Hotel occupancy projected to remain low

The Aruba Hotel & Tourism Association conducted a survey of hotels to measure tourism’s recovery and any progress made in occupancy.  The survey showed that recovery remains slow and gradual.

For the month of July, the projected average occupancy remains at 9%. Hotels forecast an average occupancy of 18% for August on Aruba, with a gradual growth towards a 40% occupancy rate in December. Indications are that Timeshare hotels are experiencing a higher occupancy in July, estimated at 35% on average.

The road to recovery is long and tourism-related companies shall experience higher cost than income levels for quite some time. Programs such as the wage subsidy allow companies to survive and retain employment. Payroll is only one segment of a company’s costs, so the subsidy only helps partially. However, without the wage subsidy during the recovery period, many companies would need to file for bankruptcy or restructure its operations.