10/09/2025
| Episode CCCXX -320: The Price of Paradise: How Mass Tourism Is Unmaking Aruba
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We all know that tourism brings both benefits and drawbacks to local communities. While often seen as a benign form of economic development, it also carries the risk of cultural dislocation. Although tourism has not led to the extinction of native peoples, it can uproot communities and push ethnic minorities toward what some describe as 'cultural annihilation' or even cultural decimation.
In Aruba, the growing daily concerns of permanent residents—along with increasing complaints from returning visitors—suggest that something is going very wrong. This shift may be provoking a rise in tourist phobia. This was the focus of Episode 200: 'Small Island Destination', where we explored how Aruba increasingly reflects the model described by George V. Doxey in 1975. He warned that, without careful management, tourism could become a source of community dissatisfaction.
By the 1990s, policymakers should have adopted tools to monitor this growing tension—but failed to act in its defense.
We, the traditional inhabitants of Aruba, are not anti-tourism. The issue is not tourism itself, but the nature and structure of the current tourism model—one that affects us more directly and aggressively than ever before.
Tourism in Aruba is expanding rapidly, to the point where it resembles a stationary cruise ship: cultural heritage is being commercialized, historical sites and Toponyms are misused, nature is under enormous pressure, and long-held traditions are slowly disappearing beneath layers of indifference.
This is why this cultural online platform Island Insight, created by Etnia Nativa in 2019, was born—to resist the loss of our roots and ten thousand moons of tradition.
More than just a blog, Island Insight is a cultural initiative led by a one-of-a-kind residential museum, founded by a native artist who has spent decades rescuing, documenting, and sharing the true soul of Aruba—from its Indigenous roots to its colonial legacy. Today, he continues to preserve and celebrate the island’s authentic cultural identity.
In an increasingly interconnected global economy, mass tourism has exploded. While travel is not new, the speed and scale at which it now operates are overwhelming. Few places remain untouched, and even the most remote destinations are now packaged and sold as 'unique experiences.'
Aruba is beginning to push back against the effects of excessive tourism. The island is exceeding its carrying capacity, leading to serious consequences for our environment and native species. Places once sacred to locals are now overrun by visitors, generating resentment and unrest among residents.
Tourism undoubtedly brings financial benefits—offering an exchange of goods and services for recreation and leisure. But this is where we must pause and reconsider. On an island as fragile as ours, the environment, culture, and community are not just scenic backdrops for consumption—they are living systems, and commodifying them comes at a real cost.
In recent years, tourism has begun to displace local residents—especially in the north district and along the coastal zone of Savaneta. Residential areas are being converted into short-term rentals, Airbnb, and boutique hotels, turning once-quiet neighborhoods into disruptive hotspots marked by late-night parties, flooded septic tanks, overflowing garbage bins, and speeding off-road vehicles.
These impacts are felt in daily life. Imagine being a local, rising early to enjoy a peaceful swim in Malmok, and find the area already crowded with tourists and rental vehicles—many hoping to swim with the now 'poor sea turtles.' We say 'poor' intentionally, as these creatures are becoming increasingly scarce. A thin film of oil from sunscreens and cosmetics often floats around them—a visible symbol of disregard for their well-being.
Our Caribbean Sea—with its clear turquoise waters, stunning landscapes, and year-round sunshine—is often marketed through an exotic one eye lens. From the glorified image of sea turtles and exotic birds to the use of socioeconomic struggles as a marketing tool, these narratives may attract visitors, but they also erase the lived realities of those who for many generations call this island home. Unfortunately—and to the detriment of its native people—Aruba has shifted its focus from high quality to cheap quantity.
Foreign investors made great use of our tax holidays. However this on the long run only had worsening the situation for the local tax payer. Causing the increasing of the pension alleged age from 60 to 65. Weakening minimum wage`s buying power, while forcing many to obtain a second income. A great deal of tourism generated profits, are repatriated, and when large portion of the industry’s labor force is of foreign descent, more foreign exchange is expelled to foreign countries. This deficit requires tax increase or inflation, the artificial rising costs of living through all imports, utilities, food, gas, health care etc.— If the required knowhow and courage don’t appear to sustain this tourism model—The gap between the industry’s luxury offerings and the everyday lives of the average Aruban resident will continue to widening by the day.
This article is written by Etnia Nativa that offers a cultural perspective on the urgent need to rethink Aruba’s tourism future and is a powerful embodiment of art, cultural heritage and sustainable living.
