WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao should introduce stronger controls over where tourism development takes place, regulate short-term vacation rentals and establish a permanent monitoring system to determine when tourism growth is putting excessive pressure on the island.
Those are among the central policy recommendations contained in the Curaçao Tourism Carrying Capacity Study.
The report argues that Curaçao needs to move away from what it describes as reactive, volume-driven tourism management and adopt a deliberately managed model focused on economic value and the island's actual carrying capacity.
One of the most significant recommendations is the creation of a Tourism Spatial Development Framework.
Such a framework would allow the government to determine more strategically where and how hotels, attractions and tourism corridors should be developed rather than responding to individual projects after they are proposed.
The report also calls for a regulatory framework covering short-term rentals, including mandatory registration, zoning controls and enforcement mechanisms.
Environmental, social and governance criteria should additionally become part of the approval process for tourism investments and developments.
The recommendations come as Curaçao experiences rapid expansion in its accommodation sector.
The number of rooms available relative to the population increased from 4.9 per 100 residents in 2021 to 6.2 in 2024. The report says accommodation supply overall has expanded by 81 percent since 2019.
Researchers warn that decisions must be made before another hotel development cycle creates patterns that become increasingly expensive and difficult to reverse.
The study also proposes establishing a national Tourism Carrying Capacity Monitoring Committee.
Led by the Ministry of Economic Development, the committee would include representatives from government, public utilities, the private sector and environmental organizations.
Its job would be to monitor conditions annually, identify emerging risks, recommend action and report directly to the Council of Ministers.
A proposed monitoring dashboard would track indicators in four broad areas: economic performance, infrastructure and environmental capacity, the experiences of visitors and residents, and governance.
Indicators would then be classified using a traffic-light system: "on track" when conditions remain healthy, "needs attention" when pressure begins to increase and "action required" when impacts become excessive.
The intention is to give policymakers an early-warning mechanism rather than waiting until infrastructure or environmental problems have reached crisis levels.
The study emphasizes that managing tourism can no longer be the responsibility of one ministry alone.
Tourism policy may fall under the Ministry of Economic Development, but some of the biggest constraints identified by researchers — wastewater treatment, waste management, roads, environmental protection and other infrastructure — fall under other ministries and public entities.
For that reason, researchers say clear direction from the Council of Ministers and defined responsibilities across government will be essential.
The report gives Curaçao little time for delay. It concludes that decisions taken over the next two years will determine the direction of tourism for the remainder of the decade.
"The tools are defined. The policy directions are mapped. Stakeholders are aligned. What is needed now is execution," the report states.