What is it about?
The article investigates the economic "success" of the tourism driven development of the Dutch overseas territories Aruba and Sint Maarten. The central argument is that in spite of fast economic growth, average wealth did not increase. This is because immigration lead to population growth as well. Hence the average productivity did not rise. This makes for a development model that depends on volume growth, while space is limited on these small islands.
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Why is it important?
This is the first time that the economic developmentof two Dutch tourism dedicated territories are subject of a scholarly article. Research into Sint Maarten's development is especially scarce. The concept of "Small Island Tourism Economies" or SITEs is investigated here for two unique case studies in the Caribbean. The long term sustainability of the model is questioned for islands, given their natural constraints.
Perspectives
I am a resident and former resident of both islands Aruba and Sint Maarten. I know from personal experience that the limited sustainability of the chosen development model is striking. Research into the how and why of the tourism dependent model however is very limited so far. To avoid the islands becoming fatally crowded and overdeveloped, thereby defeating their own tourism success, the limitations of the model have to be understood in order to explore alternative directions. Adapt to survive.
Mr Arjen Alberts
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Immigration-dependent extensive growth in small island tourism economies: the cases of Aruba and Sint Maarten, International Development Planning Review, January 2016, Liverpool University Press,
DOI: 10.3828/idpr.2016.4.
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