by Joe Pike
Last updated: 10:30 AM ET, Fri July 6, 2018
Increased flights and capacity, as well as re-routed bookings to the island during last year's hurricane season, all factored into Curacao's 10 percent increase in North American arrivals from May of 2017 to May of 2018, said Gianina Atalita, the Curacao Tourist Board's sales and marketing coordinator for North America.
Atalita told TravelPulse recently that the island saw a spike in arrivals in both September and October when many popular Caribbean islands were recovering from both Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria. And those clients are not only coming back this year, they seemed to have shared the secret of Curacao with their friends.
"A lot of the smaller islands don't get the same attention as the larger ones; they often get overlooked," said Atalita. "During last year's hurricane season, we had a lot more people beginning to discover Curacao. People were learning about us."
But Atalita, like most tourism representatives of islands that escaped last year's hurricane season unscathed, said it was important for the destination to remain mindful of the other islands that were still recovering.
"Obviously, we don't want to say we are benefiting from something that hurt other island Caribbean islands and we are not going to say we are ecstatic," said Atalita, "but we are making use of the opportunity to showcase the island and let people know we are still here and everything is fine."
And Atalita said she is also proud that Curacao was attractive enough to entice vacationers who re-routed from other Caribbean islands to stay within the region.
"That we kept people in the Caribbean was a great thing too," said Atalita. "It just gave the smaller islands that weren't affected by the hurricanes that little push they needed."
The island, which also saw an overall 20 percent spike in arrivals from May of last year to this year, also benefited from strong branding efforts in its two core U.S. markets: New York City and South Florida.
The increase also comes at a time when American Airlines and JetBlue Airways are increasing airlift to the destination.
American Airlines announced earlier this year that it is going back to its Boeing 737-800 fleet, which will give Curacao increased capacity out of the Miami. American also recently added a second flight from Charlotte to Curacao. The seasonal flights will take off on Sundays and are available now through August, said Atalita. And beginning December 19, American Airlines will be adding a third flight from Miami to Curacao.
"We would like to see another carrier out of Miami or Fort Lauderdale just to bring more of that competition with American," said Atalita. "Airfare right now is about $700 from Miami, so if we have some more competition, we will get some more competitive pricing. Opening another gateway in the South Florida market will really help us with the pricing."
In other positive flight news for the island, JetBlue recently added a fourth flight from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The new seasonal flight, which launched June 19, will run until Sept. 4. Atalita said if that flight does well, JetBlue will consider bringing it back from December, 2018 to April of 2019.
But Atalita isn't satisfied.
"We want them to go daily," said Atalita. "At the moment, they have three and one seasonal. Once we get that fourth one year-round, we can add more service and eventually get daily service from them."
And that would be great news for the island as JetBlue alone has shifted Curacao's marketshare, said Atalita. Ever since JetBlue first launched flights to Curacao back in December of 2014, Atalita said New York has been the island's most successful market. Miami, which was previously the island's best market, is now second. Atalita also said Boston has been performing well and the Philadelphia market is also beginning to grow.
Events to Check Out
And Curacao expects to continue its growth in numbers as the island is bringing back its most popular event, the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival.
Atalita said the event was canceled last year because of the lack of quality talent the festival was able to draw.
But that doesn't appear to be an issue this year with a lineup that includes international headliners such as Jason Derulo, Christina Aguilera, Sting & Shaggy, Sean Paul and Patti Labelle. The event runs from August 30 to September 1.
Another big event, especially for the LGBT market, is the annual Curacao Gay Pride parade. The event, which is in its sixth year, will run from Sept. 27-30. New sponsors to the pride parade this year include the Papagayo Beach Resort and several local clubs. The Floris Suite Hotel - Spa and Beach Club is the host hotel
"When it started six years ago, it was more of a local event," said Atalita. "And I'd say for about three years it has gained a large international travel presence."
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