Island adventure in Aruba: discovering tourism, culture and sustainability

Seeing tourism from a different perspective

“We chose the Destinations in Transition minor because we wanted to look beyond the traditional hospitality industry. During the minor in Aruba, we explored how tourism affects a destination and how we can contribute to making tourism more sustainable. We quickly realised that tourism is about much more than hotels and guests. It also affects local communities, nature, culture and the economy.”

Learning from a different culture

“Working with students from the University of Aruba gave us the opportunity to experience the island from a local perspective. We had to get used to different ways of communicating and working together. Lessons didn’t always start on time, Papiamento was sometimes the main language and the grading system was different from what we were used to. At first, that could be challenging, but it taught us to be flexible, open-minded and willing to adapt.”

Turning ideas into action

“For our advisory report, we developed a sustainable concept for a derelict heritage site in Arikok National Park. We wanted to create something that combines nature, culture and quality without contributing to mass tourism. It was exciting to work on a project where our ideas could potentially become reality. The minor taught us a lot about sustainable tourism, but also about ourselves. We discovered new strengths, learnt to work in an international team and gained a better understanding of the impact we can have as future hospitality professionals.”