In late January 2022, I arrived on the Caribbean Island of Aruba to conduct ethnographic fieldwork for my bachelor’s thesis on sustainable tourism. I have always had a passion for traveling, remembering the wonderful trips with my father when I was younger, and long been intrigued by sustainability. A course on anthropology and sustainability demonstrated that I could combine these passions to investigate their intertwinement in Aruba.
Aruba’s slogan is “One Happy Island,” known for its “sea, sand, and sun” experience. It has become reliant on tourism. While tourism has accelerated population growth, created new jobs, and promoted infrastructure, it has also exhausted both the society and the environment. With the growth of climate threats, the relationship between human needs and the environment must move to a sustainable long-term solution. My goal for this fieldwork was to assess the current state of sustainable tourism while raising awareness of its shortcomings for Arubans and providing insights for future improvements. For this blog, I focus on my fieldwork and observations.
My inspiration for this research topic also stemmed from curiosity about The Bucuti & Tara Beach resort. The resort claims to be at the forefront of sustainable tourism, holding multiple awards and certifications from the United Nations and the World Travel & Tourism Council. Most impressive, it became certified carbon-neutral in 2018—the first certified carbon-neutral resort in the Caribbean.
As I researched this resort, however, doubts arose. Is this another marketing strategy to attract more (eco)tourists? Is it greenwashing (false claims as environmentally friendly, when not)? Is it commodifying Aruba’s nature as a selling point? How neutral is carbon neutral?
To assess the resort’s efforts and address these questions, I followed Martha Honey’s approach to sustainable tourism, focusing on three main components:
- Environmental conservation: minimizing the tourist’s impact
- Education and awareness: implementing a code of conduct, and
- Community support and participation: the resort’s effectiveness in providing funds to local communities.
Once in the field, my initial research started with understanding what the resort already does regarding sustainability. The owner of the resort, Ewald Biemans, enthusiastically welcomed my research. Throughout my three-month fieldwork period, he helped me with interviews, participant observation, and surveys among his guests and employees. From the beginning, I could sense his motivation to put sustainability at the forefront of his resort He follows Honey’s approach through the following actions:
Environmental conservation: the resort reduces its plastic consumption through efforts such as gifting water coolers to guests to discourage the use of plastic (banning single-use plastic and Styrofoam long before it was discussed in the media) and donating organic waste to local pig farms. Regarding its carbon neutrality, a verified third party annually calculates emissions. For those emissions impossible to reduce to zero, the resort buys carbon credits by investing in carbon offset projects.
Beach clean -up in front of the resort, February 2022
Education and awareness: the resort focuses on raising awareness and educating its employees, guests, and the Aruban community about environmental sustainability through workshops and other activities.
Community support: the resort supports the Aruban community through donations or volunteer work with local organizations (e.g., animal shelter, and donkey sanctuary). It also organizes a monthly beach clean-up.
I interviewed local organizations and participated in the beach clean-ups. Most stakeholders were satisfied with the help they received through donations, fundraisers, or volunteers at their organizations. For example, a representative from Aruba’s Donkey Sanctuary recalled when resort employees helped make lamps out of license plates, cut down trees, and raised funds through sales of donkey calendars.
Rescued donkey at Aruba’s Donkey Sanctuary
Yet, there are challenges. How neutral is carbon neutral? A big percentage of offset projects have no measurable environmental benefits because they are located in developing countries too remote for easy observation. They are difficult to monitor and to supply with resources to keep them running effectively. Another challenge is the attitude towards tourism and sustainability in Aruba. Imperatives of national economic growth and expansion trump ecological preservation. On a community level, most Arubans are focused primarily on their livelihood; changes in their daily routines to protect the environment await the future.
My research findings suggest that the resort offers a success story in the field of sustainable tourism. However, there is always room for improvement. I provided the resort with various recommendations, such as calculating its food carbon emissions from the source, that is, from the planting to the table; to provide more accurate measurements into the real emissions of food. Moreover, it should re-evaluate its carbon offset projects in terms of promised carbon sequestration, that is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide, beneficial for climate change.
The outlook of tourism in Aruba, as well as in the rest of the world, is unclear due to the constant struggle between the welfare of the the planet and the satisfaction of consumers. However, one thing is clear: to put the protection of the environment at the forefront of our mindsets, we must make careful choices when seeking to increase economic growth.
Anthropological studies like this one in Aruba can expose the inherent contradictions and contribute insights into sustainability messaging, processes, and practices. Conducting fieldwork at the resort gave me the opportunity to witness both the promises and complexities of sustainable tourism, reaffirming my belief in the power of anthropological research to inform meaningful environmental change.
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