I earn my living from tourism, so of course I am glad visitors continue coming to Bonaire. The industry provides work far beyond hotels and restaurants. Construction workers, gardeners, car-rental companies, mechanics and supermarkets all benefit.
There is enough work for people from other countries to come here looking for jobs. These workers tend to enter different levels of the economy. Spanish-speaking people, often from Venezuela or Colombia, commonly take badly paid, unskilled work. English- and Dutch-speaking arrivals are more likely to receive management positions.
Bonairians rarely reach the top of either group. I find that frustrating, although I do not blame only foreign employers. Many young people from Bonaire go to the Netherlands to study and never return. Those who stay do not always fight strongly enough for their rights. Our trade union does not push hard enough either.
Bonaire is not a Western country placed in the tropics. We are a Caribbean island with our own culture.
Tourism has clearly created employment, but it has also destroyed at least one local industry. Bonaire once had a factory where beds were made by hand. When the large hotels arrived, they imported their beds instead of ordering locally. The factory could not compete and eventually closed.
One kind of work replaced another, but the new jobs did not necessarily offer local people greater control.
The most difficult effect in everyday life is the rise in prices. They have increased much faster than wages. Tourism brings more money to the island, but workers find that their pay buys less and less.
I know individual tourists cannot solve inflation or change our employment system. They can still make choices that help.
Eating at locally owned restaurants keeps more money on Bonaire. Being patient and friendly with staff also matters. Some visitors expect exactly the same service they receive at home and become irritated when things work differently here.
But Bonaire is different. That is part of the reason people choose to visit.
Tourism workers need more than jobs. We need to earn a wage on which we can actually live.
Tips make a genuine difference because wages remain low while prices rise. A little more generosity can help somebody pay for the everyday costs tourism has made more expensive.
We need tourists, and I am happy to welcome them. In return, I ask visitors to value the island as it is: support local businesses, treat workers warmly and remember that Caribbean hospitality should not mean accepting wages that no longer cover Caribbean life.