Celebrating 25 Years of Tourism with Visionaries and Pioneers

Recently the Curaçao Tourism Board celebrates its 25th Anniversary, promoting our island to the world. This industry has seen an enormous evolution over the years, as it journeys towards become a leading economic pillar for the island.

TEXT KATY BRANUM

Dinner and a Show
Historically visitors to the island developed naturally; Curaçao was a centre for commerce in the region and a popular destination for shopping. It also attracted visitors servicing the offshore industry as well as family and friends coming to spend time with those who worked at the Shell Refinery. In addition, the island enjoyed many cruise ship visitors who often stayed overnight to enjoy dinner and a show, spending big money in the island’s casinos.

The Plaza Hotel opened as the InterContinental in 1957. Since room occupancy remained high, this lead to the construction of the Hilton Hotel, which opened its doors in 1967. Following this, many other chains quickly emerged including, Holiday Inn, Hazeleger Hotel (renamed Princess Beach Hotel), and The Arthur Frommer Hotel. Rapidly, Curaçao developed into a leading Caribbean tourist destination, which supported a thriving commerce industry that also relied on hotel rooms for those visiting the island for business purposes. Amazingly, between 1967 and 1969, seven new establishments opened in just two years.

Shaky Times
A difficult economic era occurred in the late sixties with a series of factors affecting tourism; Shell Oil (Petroleum) left the island, labour unions increased wages and the devaluation of the Bolivar all greatly impacted the tourism industry. Unfortunately, hotels were greatly impacted by this, so the government stepped in to manage the hotels, securing valuable local jobs.

The government decided that there was potential to redevelop the tourism industry and thus implemented a series of projects to restore this economic pillar. Significant projects included; the privatization of the hotels, the extensive rehabilitation of Willemstad and the development of the beach at the Sea Aquarium with the resulting Lion’s Dive resort area. These investments increased the island’s attractiveness as a tourist destination, and they are continuing to be developed today.

To be successful in tourism, you really have to love your job. It is as simple as that. – Frank Maynard

To celebrate Curaçao’s rich tourist history, three pioneers in the industry have come forward to share their stories and words of wisdom for the future.

Frank Maynard
Frank formally stepped into the industry when he was approached to become assistant manager at the Country Inn (now the Trupial Inn) in 1966. He worked hard, was popular with both the staff and guests, and was quickly promoted to become the manager in just six months. Frank transferred to the Arthur Frommer Hotel in 1972, which was a three star resort with entertainment facilities, a swimming pool, tennis court and bungalows set in lush tropical gardens.

Initially the resort had a fairly low occupancy, however Frank quickly built this up after successfully tapping into the Dutch market. He understood the value of personal connections, and spent the majority of his time travelling to meet with holiday agents, encouraging them to send their clientele to his resort.

A key facet he discovered once tapping into the lucrative Dutch market was not only the desire to entice Dutch tourists to visit Curaçao, but also to utilize the island as a central point to explore Latin America.

Frank was recognized for his hard work by the new investor of Princess Beach Hotel, who invited him to come onboard as the General Manager in 1984. Under Frank’s leadership, the hotel was renovated and it, along with the casino, prospered.

In 1994, Frank stepped out of the tourism industry, however he has maintained his close association to his passion, where he has been president of the hotel association for many years.

He believes the key to his success is his ability to connect with his staff and guests with respect and grace. This is a true art, in a local environment where hierarchy and egos are often the drivers of behaviour rather than compassion. Frank explains, “It is these skills that, if practiced daily, will create respect and love from your employees, rather than managing with aggression and resentment. In this way, even the guy that sweeps the floor in the lobby recognises that he makes an important contribution to the team.”

Ben Rosheuvel
Ben stepped into the tourism industry in the eighties, when Curaçao´s economy was experiencing enormous challenges as a result of the departure of Shell and the diminishing role of the offshore sector. During this period, the islands tourism industry was also struggling, and the Government was subsidising hotels to secure jobs.

It was at this important juncture that Ben was asked to head Holding Company Curaçao Inc, the company that was managing a larger proportion of the hotels on behalf of the Government. The brainstorming process involving various civil groups resulted in the decision to develop the islands natural resources so that tourism could prosper and become a key economic pillar. As a result, the hotels owned by the Government had to be privatized. The plan was to sell the hotels to experienced entrepreneurs who would be able to make these resorts profitable within a three to five year period. All Government owned hotels were successfully privatized; the last being the Trupial Inn, which Ben himself purchased in 1991.

The government decided that there was potential to redevelop the tourism industry and thus implemented a series of projects to restore this economic pillar.

Ben transformed the Trupial Inn from a rundown property to a desirable resort with the main idea of creating an environment where guests really feel that they are in the tropics. To achieve this, he made many changes, which included the renovation of all the rooms and the addition of balconies that enables guests to enjoy the tropical atmosphere. In 2005, his son Bart took over the property and has continued to build on Ben’s vision. Ben shares that the key to continued success in this industry is being open to change and constant improvement.

Ben’s strategic role in privatizing the hotels and his experience through the years as a hotel owner has provided him with great perspective in regards to further developing the tourism industry. He shares, “As we have seen historically, when Government commits to new economical developments and delivers on its plans, investors will follow. Further, listening to valid development proposals by investors will go a long way in bringing increased prosperity to the island. “

Ben believes this is especially important for the future of the island, as it provides our youth with a vision that they can embrace, something of which they can be proud and to which they would like to contribute. “Understanding the island’s future career opportunities will help the youth foster dedication and a sense of duty to the island. This commitment will enable them to contribute as active members of society and help lift the island to a better place for future generations.”

Richard Hart
In 1965, The InterContinental welcomed a new team from Aruba to manage the casino in Curaçao. Richard joined shortly afterwards as the first local bookkeeper for the casino. He quickly learned not only about the casino business, but also gained knowledge about the hotel business. He was eventually promoted to a management position within the InterContinental team. Richard was one of the first locals to hold such a senior position, overseeing both local staff and more junior American managers.

The Casino and Hotel in Curaçao were part of a larger group of similar establishments in Aruba, Ecuador, Suriname, St Martin, Santo Domingo, Antigua and Lebanon. In 1976, a key stakeholder from the business passed away, sparking a strategic board meeting of the remaining shareholders. At this meeting, a unique opportunity to buy out the other stakeholders presented itself, and thus Richard emerged as the controlling owner.

There were some further changes to the portfolio of establishments over time, however Richard’s core portfolio included casinos in Curaçao, Aruba, and Ecuador. He began to expand the hotel side of the business and took over operations of the Plaza Hotel in Curaçao, the Sheraton in Aruba and he bought the Flamingo Hotel on Bonaire.

Business was doing well. He was preparing to take the company public when there was the sudden devaluation of the Bolívar, dramatically reducing guest numbers at the Plaza Hotel. Richard ultimately emerged from this difficult time by recognising the need to form a partnership. He learned that the Van Der Valk family was interested in purchasing the hotel, so he approached the family. The Government, which had part ownership, and Richard completed the sale. Van Der Valk had a strong brand name in Holland, so it was able to leverage its reputation to lure Dutch visitors to the island.

When asked about advice he would share, Richard emphasises that success comes when people work together. He shares, “There has always been challenges, but it is about being pro-active and working together to find solutions.” He reminds us that in the past, it was action groups that bought unions, private investment and government together. “Everyone stepped up and pulled together,” says Richard.

Going forward, he encourages all sectors of the community to work together to continue building on the foundation that has already be set to promote tourism. Government should create policies that make the island attractive for investment. This will help investors choose Curaçao over other locations. He believes if everyone has the same goal, success is almost ensured.

Looking Forward
The current focus for the Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) is to create more awareness for Curaçao, especially in the northeast of the USA and Canada, to compliment the direct flight services. This initiative also includes working with local hotels and resorts to ensure that they deliver on the expectations of these visitors. The goal is that when they return home, they will encourage others to come to the island. Subsequent reviews on TripAdvisor will quickly identify who can deliver a positive customer experience and help others learn where they need to invest to lift their product offering.

A secondary market focus is to continue to build visitor numbers from Northern Europe and the Scandinavian Countries. This has been made easier with KLM airlines introducing an afternoon flight departure from Schiphol, permitting connecting flights from these countries to arrive into Schiphol in time to join the ongoing service to Curaçao. This will dramatically shorten the travel time from Scandinavian capitals and other locations around Europe, increasing Curaçao’s attractiveness as a destination. In 2015, Curaçao will host the State of the Industry Conference (SOTIC). The SOTIC conference has become the leading tourism conference in the Caribbean region, gathering together government ministers and officials, tourism directors, media and others in the industry to discuss the future of the region’s largest economic driver.