WILLEMSTAD – Tourism has become increasingly dominant in Curaçao’s economy, with its share of the island’s foreign exchange earnings more than doubling between 2010 and 2024, according to a new study by researchers at the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
CBCS estimates show that tourism’s share of Curaçao’s total foreign exchange earnings increased from 21.7 percent in 2010 to 53.9 percent in 2024. Over the full 2010–2024 period, the average was 33.4 percent.
The development reflects a significant transformation of Curaçao’s economy.
The study notes that the island previously relied on several major economic pillars, including transportation, oil refining, international financial services, the free zone and tourism. That structure has changed as several traditional sectors weakened.
The closure of the refinery in 2019, bankruptcies involving local airlines and the decline of international financial services have all increased tourism’s relative importance. Since 2021, tourism foreign exchange earnings have represented more than 40 percent of Curaçao’s total exports.
Despite this shift, Curaçao remained less tourism-dependent on average between 2010 and 2024 than many other Caribbean economies. Tourism represented an average 33.4 percent of total exports during the period, compared with a Caribbean average of 63.4 percent.
However, the rapid increase in Curaçao’s dependence means developments in its principal visitor markets can have increasingly significant consequences for the wider economy.
One of those vulnerabilities is the euro.
The Netherlands accounted for an average 42.1 percent of Curaçao’s tourism earnings between 2010 and 2024. The entire euro area accounted for 48.6 percent. By comparison, the euro area represented only 11.9 percent of Sint Maarten’s tourism earnings.
The United States, meanwhile, accounted for 32.5 percent of Curaçao’s tourism earnings, compared with 52.1 percent for Sint Maarten.
This difference helps explain why the researchers conclude that Curaçao is more exposed to fluctuations in the euro than Sint Maarten.
Because the Caribbean guilder is pegged to the U.S. dollar, Curaçao cannot independently adjust its currency when the euro rises or falls. Changes between the euro and U.S. dollar are transmitted directly into the exchange rate between the euro and Caribbean guilder.
The study concludes that Curaçao should continue expanding beyond its traditional European tourism base. Greater connectivity and marketing in the United States, Latin America and emerging markets could reduce the island’s exposure to European economic and currency shocks.
According to the researchers, a broader visitor base would not only make tourism more resilient but could also help stabilize the foreign exchange flows that are increasingly important to Curaçao’s economy.