New Marriott Ritz-Carlton Planned for Aruba
Aruba Prime Minister Mike Eman appeared with Marriott International CEO Bill Marriott Jr. last week in Aruba as Marriott announced that Ritz-Carlton would proceed with a 320-room luxury property to open in late 2012 along the last strip of prime beachfront on Aruba’s Palm Beach. The announcement was preceded by years of discussions with past administrations.
The plan generated hot debate among Aruban residents about how best to combine Aruba’s tourism growth and hotel development with preservation and protection of the island’s natural resources.
“Due to a rapid expansion of hotels and condominiums over the last 20 years, we are concerned that we are left with too few vacant public beach areas,” Eman said. “The fact that we are looking at the addition of such a prestigious hotel as the Ritz-Carlton reduces this pain for us. We hope to work with Marriott to achieve the vision of our new government to emphasize sustainability and durability in the development of our tourism industry for both the people of Aruba and our visitors.”
Marriott added, “Marriott has a large presence on Aruba with more than 1,400 rooms and 1,500 employees, many of whom are from Aruba,” Marriott said. “Our new Ritz-Carlton will generate up to 1,000 jobs for full-time hotel employees and construction workers, and more than 90% of these workers will come from the local population.”
The new hotel will be energy-efficient, consume low amounts of fresh water due to desalinization procedures and will build public beach access into the overall hotel design.
Palm Beach, on the SW coast of Aruba, has constant trade winds, brilliant white sand, and a central location on the island. You can spend an hour walking from one end of Palm Beach to the other, stopping at the hotels along the way.
Read more at CaribPro.com.