Noord
Noord hosts Aruba's hotel concentration while the island closes its century-old refinery chapter: 124,787 arrivals in January 2025 as tourism replaces petroleum.
Noord represents Aruba's most developed tourism zone while the island transitions away from its century-old refinery dependency. This section hosts the highest concentration of hotels and restaurants, anchoring the tourism sector that dominates Aruba's economy. January 2025 saw 124,787 stay-over arrivals, a 4.7% growth from 2024, with North America contributing 77.9% of visitors and South American markets surging, including 90.8% growth from Brazil.
The island's economic transformation became official when Prime Minister Mike Eman's government decided to permanently close the oil chapter and repurpose the refinery area for green industrial zones and renewable energy. Since 1924, when the Lago Oil and Transport Company established operations, Aruba served as a strategic hub for global oil refining, at one point operating one of the world's largest refineries with over 10,000 employees. The Dutch Government committed 110 million florins for remediation.
GDP grew 7.6% in 2024, with projections of 1.3% for 2025 as the post-pandemic tourism boom normalizes. The cruise sector expanded to 123,507 visitors in January 2025. Noord's 30 acres of reforestation by hotelier Ewald Biemans represents the shift from development pressure to conservation. Economic diversification targets include cannabis and hemp industries, the circular economy, technology, and finance.