On Wednesday evening, an opening reception for local and international participants from CATA was held at Quinta del Carmen.
Area Director LATAM, Miriam Dabian from ATA shared a few words with all present, thanking everyone who’s part of CATA 32, face-to-face after two years of being virtual.
Minister-President, Evelyn Wever-Croes, and Minister of Tourism, Dangui Oduber, were present and shared a few words with the participants, emphasizing the importance of Latin America for Aruba, and different initiatives to continue attracting travelers from the region. The support for the partners will continue to keep growing the Latin American market and put Aruba in a position as a brand.
ATA’s CEO Ronella Croes welcomed everyone present and welcomed not only the existing partners of Aruba but also the new partners who are participating at CATA for the first time.
Thursday morning, the official opening was for the participants who were present at Renaissance Convention Center as well as participants who are attending virtually. More than 900 registrations from groups who indicated that they were willing to continue with the virtual conference came in. The ones who couldn’t attend would receive a recording of the full conference.
After the formal part, Ronella explained Aruba’s touristic recovery, goals, strategies, and expectations for 2022 globally and the specific market of Latin America as well.
For Latin America, the wide attraction of visitors of high value can go up to 100,076 visitors divided between Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and other countries in Latin America. To reach these goals, the sustainable development of areal connectivity is a fundamental part of the strategy. In 2019, Aruba was receiving 11 flights per week from Copa, and 14 flights per week from Avianca. At this moment 7 flights per week from Copa and 7 weekly from Avianca. Copa currently utilizes a 737 to fly to Aruba, while previously utilizing an Embraer with 90 seats, while the 737 had 150 seats, which is very beneficial for Aruba. The arrival of new airlines for 2022 is extremely positive.
After Ronella, 3 lecturers from Latin America did their presentations, focusing on reinventing tourism. Alejandro Mahecha focused on the introduction of cryptocurrency, digital wallets, and their use during flights. Mariano Boaz touched on the theme of NFTs, focusing on the touristic industry, and Daniel Perez touched on the theme of metaverse and tourism.
These themes are relevant at this moment, and being able to connect them to tourism is something that can give businesses in the industry added value. For ATA, the intention is to utilize the aforementioned information to continue to define the innovation strategy for Aruba.
ATA thanks parliament members, ministers, AHATA, AAA, local and international partners, as well as local press for their presence during CATA’s opening.
