Aruba Tourism: The Holloway Effect

I am uttterly and sadly sickened in your niativity in your support for US tourism in Aruba. Please do your research (totaly thourough ) before you affirm our complete trust in another countries trust. My brother and sister-in-law were tragically proven “missing” in Aruba while suppossed touring the island on a rented boat. To this day their whereabouts have been overlooked by few and missed by many. Unfortunatly our family did not get the media and attention that Natalie so well deserved! Had it been, maybe that young women would still be laughing and smiling that exuberant smile as we speak. Much more should have been said about two beautiful young individuals who just went on a vacation “to get pregnant” after many months of doctor’s treatment. I, as his sister, and a firm believer of thier belief in one another would not have even breathed any of the sick notions that were talked about in thier disapperance. I could go on forever to speak about my pure despite and sheer anger at what can happen behind closed doors. There is so much more to stories than meets the everyday persons life. I wish every individual knew. All my blessings, all my faith in the above, but mostly my sincere sympthathy for the Holloway family, as it has been more than 20 years since we have tried to bury this tradgedy. I would be a liar if I said it got eaisier as time goes by, for every day without someone you hold so deeply, is the worst day of your life! So you as the writer of that comment, a narrow minded, uninformed individual believe in this so callled progess, I as another survivor of a undescribable tradgey will continue to call this a hidden recognision of fallen angels. Continue in your beliefs as I one of those who have fallen, will adamentaly opose. Please do your homework, unless you are one of the many that have something to gain by your sheer ignorance. Whether it be monetarily or not, may your consciounse prevail. From someone who atually knows the feeling.

Aruba may appear safer than many places, but the complete impotence of the justice system there makes it clear that almost everywhere else will be a preference in my judgement. Your comments are naive and irresponsible and I’d hope someone takes you to task on them so that you don’t (or perhaps don’t have a chance to) make that kind of mistake again.

It always comes down to money. What about Natalie. What happened. Isn’t that more important then their need for US $$$$. You support Aruba and their tourism over what happened to a young girl from the US. I hope you sleep well.

I have to agree with the other comments. Could this have happened in any tourist destination? Absolutely.

But would other tourist destinations have shown the complete lack of givadamn that Aruba has shown? I doubt it. They didn’t want any help from US investigators because they didn’t want it blasted all over the news that they couldn’t find their backsides with both hands.

It isn’t so much THAT this happened that is so disturbing. It is that this happened and the Aruban officials acted as though it was NO BIG DEAL.

Just some drunken American teenager, probably out somewhere still partying, seemed to be their initial theory. Had they acted as though this was the important issue that it was, perhaps this girl’s family would have at least been able to give her a proper burial by now.

Sorry, but I’d rather head someplace where they’ll at LEAST start looking for me right away, if I should go missing. I’d rather head someplace where they welcome help from ANY law enforcement agency in finding me, should I go missing. And I’d DEFINITELY rather head someplace where they don’t look around now and then for a couple of years, and then shut the book on my case. I want someone who will keep looking until they FIND ME, not put forth a lackluster effort until they are able to sweep my case under the rug, and forget about me.

It is tragic when any person dies or is taken unexpectedly and my heart goes out to their families, but there is tragic crime everywhere. The U.S. has more crime than Aruba. Would you want to be blamed for all the crime in the U.S? The people of Aruba are not responsible as a whole for what happened to Natalee Holloway, why should they be punished. Many innocent people’s livelihood is being taken away. And you may disagree with their justice system, but it is their’s and when you go to another country it is their laws and system you must abide by. No one in the U.S. wants a foreign system to come in and tell us how to run this country.

I can’t believe what I read in your article on tourism in Aruba. Too bad Natalie was not your sister, maybe you would have a different view of Aruba.

Robert, your timing is very interesting, to say the least. Very poor choice of location to promote.

Crime occurs everywhere. The problem in Aruba is the cover up! From day 1 they have not only covered up Natalee’s murder, but they have pointed fingers back at Beth, Dave, Jug and other loved ones.

You made a poor choice!

Who wrote this, Aruba Tourism?
What a load of beans! Everyone knows Aruba’s tourism is struggling.

Hey, ask Aruba about their crime statistics. The REAL statistics.
They refuse to publish them.

Have you read Beth Holloway’s book, Loving Natalee?
Aruba covered up the crime against her daughter!

#5,Cathy- “And you may disagree with their justice system, but it is their’s and when you go to another country it is their laws and system you must abide by”. Hmmm.. Exactly. Which is why is is a good idea to stay OUT of Aruba. They don’t give a darn if you or your loved one goes missing.Why should I spend my hard earned American dollars in Aruba when I can spend them in countless other places where human lives are valued?

Some Natalee-obsessed folks over at *************.com—-decided to post a link to this article.I know Aruba is a safe place first hand since I have been there with my family over 10 times and will continue to return.This is not the opinion of all the people.Its just a few people with a unhealthy obsession over the Natalee Holloway case.Most of these yokels have lunch on the weekends at the local walmart and have never left wanker county or whatever little hick town they are from-Aruba is safer than most Caribbean destinations.Trinidad already has 50 murders in 08.So dont believe these sick people.They have too much yime on their hands.

Boycott Aruba until justice is served!

Your article is absolutely disgusting in view of Joran Van Der Sloot’s confession of what happened to Natalee Holloway. You must have your head in the sand or Aruba has lined your pocket to write such an article. Half of Holland and over 20 million people tuned in to hear how Joran manipulated the Aruban police department and the media, actually hoping to make money off it all. I would never go back to Aruba. It’s windy, dirty, unsafe and corrupt.

And …. Who paid you to write this article? Aruban Tourist Association? This smells of some of the nasty comments made throughout this case against the Holloway family. When we were there, our rental car was broken into and damaged and the police would not even respond prior to our departure from the island. The police knew we were leaving and failed to even take a statement about the crime. If you go to Aruba – don’t rent a car – they are targets for the local punks and thieves. The hotel management can’t or won’t help either. I would never go back and I would never recommend this dump of a place for a vacation.

Crime does happen everywhere. The reason Americans choose to boycott Aruba is not because a crime happened, but rather because not only was the crime covered up and the perps allowed to walk around cleaning up their mess, but Aruba officials and investigators attacked the victim, Natalee Holloway, and her mother, Beth Holloway.

You can see from some of the postings here that this continues to happen.

Those who followed the case know that Aruba knew what happened to Natalee by June 9, 2005 and they knew who did it. Joran confessed to them but they suppressed his confession. When they couldn’t come up with the evidence, they pretended the confession didn’t exist.

Well Joran has confessed AGAIN. What will Aruba do now?

Amy Bradley, Willard “Buddy” Larson, Natalee Holloway-just a few that went missing from Aruba.

Even with a confession an “Aruban Judge” has ruled there is not enough evidence to rearrest Joran Vandersloot. Why not try and look out for your readers and not Aruba

Robert

Watch Larry King Live tomorrow night. Educate yourself on the Halloway investigation as Larry King brings this whole story back into the news with Natalee’s mother and Peter, an investigative reporter. The “Halloway” Effect is alive and well.

I am Canadian and I would never go to Aruba for a holiday, nor would anyone else in my family!
What happened to Natalee Holloway has disgusted me beyond words!
You need to clean up your legal system from the top down and hold the culprit
Joran V responsible for her death and disposal!
The whole world is watching Aruba!!!

Aruba remains a safe and friendly island and certainly deserves the second chance it appears to be getting from U.S. travelers
——————————-
I agree. Once Justice is done. Put Joran behind bars first.

Yeah sure Americans are just flocking into Aruba! NOT. Now just why would you take your loved ones to a place that guarantees if something bad happens – no one will ever find out what or by whom, but you and your family can count on numerous stories defaming both the victim and the family?

There are just way too many inexpensive, beautiful and friendly to American places to go than to head out for One Crappy Island!

Ditto on the majority of comments. Extremely poor judgment to show support for Aruba. I just saw Beth and her now ex-husband in different segments each indicating that because of the undercover tape they have clarity on what at the time seemed like stupid questions from the police. Specifically they were asked if Natalee had any history of epilepsy. The ONLY way they would have known to ask that question was if they knew then what the rest of us are only now finding out. That means that this cover up goes all the way to to the top in Aruba. That means the Dutch Government needs to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law not just the perpetrators of this crime but every single one of the conspirators. And I mean every single one of them. They have to in order to have any hope of redeeming themselves in the eye of the traveling public.

NO ONE SHOULD TRAVEL TO ARUBA UNTIL NATALEE HAS JUSTICE.

So Robert…you said “Aruba remains a safe and friendly island”. Are you betting your job on that statement and maybe legally putting yourself out there if someone comes up missing or gang raped. Did you not see the Joran Sloot confession? I am telling you that he is not the only one on that island doing such things. It became a sport to them. His gang was known as the pimps…..I”m not sorry for telling the truth, people can get hurt in a place called ARUBA.

Robert — It is obvious you have not done your homework. The Aruban authorities knew of Joran’s participation in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway from very early in their investigation by the questions asked of her mother and father. That was substantiated by Joran’s confession recently aired on TV. The family has known all along that a cover-up from the polis up to the Prime Minister was done to solely protect their tourism and not get justice for the victim — An American girl. American girls have been targeted, drugged, raped all under the nose of the Arubans. They knew it was going on; they even warned the family about Carlos ‘n Charlies – where it was well known that girls drinks were spiked on their last day on the island. This is probably still going on. Joran was underaged. Yet, he was allowed to drink at Carlos ‘n Charlies, he was allowed to gamble (even with his father taking him to casinos), he was allowed to have an apartment of his own to exploit girls, drink, do drugs. All because he was protected by the authorities and continues to be protected by them even though he has admitted to being involved in various horrendous crimes. Until he and his group of pimps is put out of business – An Aruba Boycott by all Americans is the only wise and safe thing to do.

You are allowed to go to Aruba. Take some of your young family girls along. Let them be the next unsuspecting tourist to fall prey to their horrible crimes. But, don’t ever recommend this unsafe place to America again. This article had to be the stupidest recommendation you have ever made and, definitely, without any consideration for Natalee Holloway. She was the victim —- Not Aruba.

I have visited Aruba five times and it is the most beautiful place in the world. The staff at the resort were nothing but nice to me. A cab driver went 20 minutes out of his way to bring me a purse I left in his cab. All the Islands in the Carribean and the United States have dangerous elements. Aruba is still safer than most other places in the world. Unfortunately, one spoiled brat name Joran Vandersloot didn’t call an ambulance when Natalie had too much to drink, maybe because he had drugged her. Well, just because there is one bad apple and a few unsavory friends doesn’t mean the whole island is to blame. That is like saying people shouldn’t tour in the United State just been Jeffery Dahmer lived here. Does one bad person mean that a whole country is to blame?

Yes, Butterfly – It means exactly that. Boycott Aruba. Not because of one bad apple but because of the corrupt authorities right up to the Prime Minister thought they could get away with covering it up to protect the tourism. If everything had just been admitted up front, the case solved, the bad apples punished, this whole nightmare for Aruba would have been buried in every other unfortunate accident file. All Joran had to do was call 911 or even leave her on a beach somewhere. But he and they didn’t do that, they tried to cover it up over and over again. I have been there over 10 times, too. I had a timeshare there. I sold it because I didn’t want the same fate for my daughters and because the Police are unresponsive to complaints by tourists. You have been lucky – hope nothing happens to you in the future. You just keep going back there and hope they don’t cover up any crimes against you.

Aruba does not deserve tourist dollars.

Though I’ve traveled to the island of Aruba in the past, there are plenty other vacation destinations and unless and until the murder of Natalee Hollway results in the re-arrest of suspect Joran Van Der Sloot I do not plan to ever revisit.

Recently I saw at a mall one of those sweeptakes form for a “free” trip to Aruba… Did not bother to fill it, and apparently many others becasue of the many leafs left on the pad. Jus an observation.

In brief summary, there was never a coverup on Aruba. The police tried every trick in the book (and a few tricks that aren’t in the book) to solve this case. If, God forbid, something were to happen to me or to someone I loved, I could only hope that the local police would devote a fraction of the energy, resources and dedication to my case that the Aruban police and people devoted to the Natalee Holloway case.

The good news is, 100,000 innocent people (who were very, very good to the family of Natalee Holloway) were not made to suffer because of an ill-advised, and ultimately unsuccessful call for a boycott.

Thank you for your insightful article. I just got back from what was my 5th trip to Aruba and while I was there I needed police assistance. They could not have been any more helpful and caring and came to my help immediately. Also the beaches and restaurants were packed.

The supposed coverup in Aruba started on a few vigilante websites and many of the people here are members of those sites so take it with a grain of salt.

It is a sad commentary but yes crime happens everywhere and in the US there are some of the most corrupt Law enforcement and governmental official as anywhere.

The unsolved crime rates in the United States is deplorable. Maybe if some put their efforts to making a change in our own country they would do some good.

Let’s hope and pray that Miss Holloway’s case can be resolved, all that is needed is enough evidence which officials have not yet been able to find and not because of any coverup but just as in the United States unless the evidence is convincing and indisputable the case cannot be solved.

You Americans (Canadian) are crazy in the head. Aruba’s autority is corrupt? Well I never. Your authority is also corrupt!!

Children goes missing, DAILY!! Killing, raping & stealing happens DAILY in your country. Its on the news every SINGLE day!!

Please, you may be right about Joran VDS, but Aruba is one happy Island. If you Americans don’t want to come to Aruba. Then don’t! It easy like that. But don’t put Aruba’s name in the mud. Because in the future your USA will also go down.

Please continue to boycott Aruba until Justice is served!

Robert, nobody can be this naive. I always wondered what a person devoid of logic would be like; thank you for sharing the personification with us.

“…a trend widely attributed to *bad* press about the disappeance of the Alabama teen…”

Bad press? Yes, too bad the press could not have spun the death of Natalee in a more positive light.

In addition to boycotting Aruba, I am now boycotting about.com. You should be ashamed for publishing Robert’s nitwit article.

All I have to say is that I will never travel there with my family as it is the justice system that scares me the most. I understand that crime can happen anywhere, but when it does I want to be in a place that cares about what happens to the tourists. You would think that in a country that is familiar with the possibility of sex slavery, that the authorities would be a little bit more proactive. Call me naive, but that’s what I would hope for.