By the Caribbean Journal staff

Curaçao is looking to Jamaica for its new tourism vision.

The Dutch Caribbean island’s Tourism Development Foundation has announced the appointment of former Jamaica Tourism Director Paul Pennicook as its new managing director and chief executive officer.

The appointment has taken immediate effect.

“It is exciting to be a part of this dynamic tourism team and I plan to immediately engage my colleagues at the Curaçao Tourist Board, the Curaçao Hospitality and Tourism Association, the Curaçao Ports Authority, the Airport Authority and other leaders of the tourism sector, to hear their thoughts on the state of Curaçao’s tourism industry and to share my views. In collaboration we will determine how best to increase visitor arrivals and visitor expenditure,” Pennicook said in a statement to Caribbean Journal.

The move comes as Curaçao has already been seeing strong tourism growth, particularly in the hotel sector.

Curacao’s Baoase Luxury Resort was recently named the number one boutique hotel in the Caribbean in Caribbean Journal’s Caribbean Boutique Hotel Awards.

Indeed, Curaçao’s hotels have significantly outperformed the rest of the region in metrics like hotel occupancy, rates and revenue so far this year, according to recent data from analytics firm STR.

“My objective is to ensure that Curaçao is positioned strongly to capitalize on growth opportunities. The careful thought that went into creating Curaçao’s new global brand, Feel It For Yourself’ makes my job easier and I’m thrilled to be a part of the roll out and for us to hit the ground running,” Pennicook said.