Island of Aruba Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Island of Aruba - Essay Example Aruba is thus a natural magnet for tourists all over the world especially the world's rich and famous. Naturally, hotels, restaurants, beach resorts and other tourism infrastructures mushroomed in the capital Oranjestad and elsewhere in Aruba's 193 sq. km. island, which is an autonomous member of the Kingdom of Netherlands. It has the best of both worlds, enjoying full autonomy in its internal affairs from Netherlands yet enjoying the mantle of protection, specifically in defense and foreign affairs from the Dutch Government (Brushaber 2). Aruba's tourism has leapfrogged beyond everyone's imagination that it has dwarfed its oil refining and offshore banking concerns. Statistics show that 1.5 million tourists visit Aruba annually 75% of whom come from USA. Likewise hotel occupancy in 2004 averaged 80% where the rest of the Caribbean nations only managed 68%. Its GDP has risen astronomically to $2.4 billion and its GDP per capita to $23,831 which ranks it as 32nd in the whole world (CI A, The World Factbook). them and the rest of humanity: that Aruba has been identified as a jump-off point for US and Europe-bound narcotics such as cocaine, heroin and marijuana and that many of its denizens are drowning i