Within the framework of this tourism industry event, Travel2latam spoke with Muryad de Bruin, Managing Director of Curaçao Tourist Board.
What expectations did you come to ITB with?
We are at ITB annually and for us, as Germany is a very important market in terms of visitors, it is very relevant that we are here with our partners, hotels and tour operators, in order to demonstrate recognition to the German market.
What relationship does Germany have compared to other European markets for you?
In Europe, the German market is the second largest we have. The first tourism in its entirety is Holland. But we are sure that we can get many more tourists from Germany. The knowledge of Curaçao here is very great.
From the point of view of hotel infrastructure, what news could you give me?
Right now we have a slightly larger balance of what we call Dutch brand rooms and North American brand rooms like Sandals or Marriott. A Courtyard by Marriott is under construction, due for completion this year, with 150 rooms. We also have a Marriott Collection, which will be completed in two years, and there are many condominium constructions. We know that between now and mid-2026 we will receive an addition of approximately 4,000 rooms in Curaçao.
What are the most important places from a tourist point of view in Curaçao?
In its entirety it is a paradise island for tourists. We have more than 35 natural and public beaches that you can visit. We also have a very beautiful and interesting cultural city center. In fact, we are in the Unesco World Heritage, with our city center. We have a very passionate culture and a very wide culinary offer.
You have a conglomerate of cultures, right?
Exact. We have a conglomerate of more than 50 cultures living in Curaçao. All of these cultures and our own have created a very diversified culinary scene, local and international at the same time. It is unique.
How is air connectivity? Are you working on that?
Last year we have grown a lot in the airlines part. For example, Delta Airlines began flying from Atlanta to Curaçao. We have seen capacity increases from Copa, Avianca. A new airline was opened from Holland. There were seat expansions from North America with American Airlines and JetBlue. And we increased connectivity with Canada, and Delta started as a new airline last year. Additionally, we have Azul from Belo Horizonte traveling from Brazil to Curaçao three times a week.
It means that practically all points receive tourism...
Yes. We also see new markets growing, for example, Argentina, where last year we had the friendly match against their soccer team. It was the first match of the world champions, it was an immense promotion for Curaçao. The Argentine market is doing very well, as is Ecuador and Colombia, growing very well as a main market for us. Of course Brazil with the Azul flight is also going wonderfully well.
From the point of view of projecting the number of passengers at an international level, what do you have planned?
Our goal for this year is to receive 670,000 tourists in Curaçao. At the moment we are doing well with the monthly targets and we are in line to be able to achieve them.