It's a Tuesday night in Amsterdam. Or Toronto, or Miami. Someone is on the couch, two weeks before their trip, typing into ChatGPT: "Plan five days on Curaçao for us. Great food, one snorkel trip, somewhere for sunset drinks."
Seconds later they have a plan. With names in it. A restaurant in Pietermaai, a boat trip from the east side, a beach bar for the last night. Screenshot, group chat, done. That's the shortlist.
By the time their plane touches down at Hato, most of the choosing has already happened. Which makes the biggest question in hospitality marketing on Curaçao a simple one, whether you run a hotel, restaurant, tour or vacation rental: are you on that list?
The shortlist gets made at home
Travelers still discover places on the island. The walk-in, the tip from the taxi driver, the hotel front desk: all still very much alive. But more and more of the deciding happens in the weeks before the trip, and it happens in three places.
AI assistants. ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity build complete itineraries on request, including where to eat, where to stay and which tour to book. No ten blue links. A handful of names.
Short video. Type "Curaçao food" or "Curaçao beach bar" into TikTok or Instagram and you get an endless scroll of seven-second clips. For a lot of travelers, that scroll is the guidebook now.
Google Maps. Once someone has a name, they look it up. Photos, reviews, opening hours, the vibe. That pin on the map is your front door, and it opens long before anyone reaches your real one.
Good news: none of these three needs a big budget. They need attention and a few smart decisions.
How ChatGPT picks a hotel or restaurant on Curaçao
AI doesn't taste your food or see your sunset. It reads. It pulls together what's written about you online: your own website, your Google Business Profile, your reviews and mentions on other sites. Then it picks the places it can describe with confidence.
That's where it gets fun. The more specific the information about you, the easier you are to recommend. "Great food, friendly staff" gives an AI nothing to work with. "Fresh catch from the grill, tables on the water in Jan Thiel, open until 10 pm" is a full sentence it can pass straight on.
What a traveler asks: "Where can we eat fresh fish with our feet in the sand on Curaçao?"
The kind of answer an AI can quote: one clear sentence on your own website that says what you serve, where you are and when you're open. Short, specific and true.
Curious how that works under the hood? Read what ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google actually know about your business, or see how FUNkiness! approaches AI marketing for businesses on Curaçao.
Your front desk is sitting on your best marketing
Here's the fun part. The questions your team answers every single day are exactly the questions travelers ask ChatGPT before they arrive. Can we walk in without a reservation? Is there parking? Can kids join the boat trip? Is the pool heated? How far is it to Punda?
Every one of those answers is a sentence an AI would happily quote, if it can find it. So write them down. Ask your team for the ten questions they hear most and put the answers on your website, in plain language. Congratulations, your front desk just became a marketing team.
Social media for hospitality: give people a seven-second moment
On TikTok and Instagram, nobody watches your full menu. They watch a moment. The plate that arrives on fire. The first jump off the boat. The welcome drink with a view of the Handelskade. The one thing guests film without you asking.
Curaçao already does half the work: the color, the light, the water. Your job is to design one moment so clearly yours that every guest who films it is advertising you to their followers back home. One great moment beats twenty pretty posts. That's what social media marketing on Curaçao is all about, if you ask us.
Get found on Google Maps
Your Google Maps listing is often the very first thing a traveler sees of you. On a phone, quickly, while comparing three places. This is what makes the difference:
Fresh photos. Real ones, recent ones, of the things people come for.
Correct details. Opening hours, phone number, website, menu or booking link. Wrong hours on a holiday is the fastest way to lose a table.
Answered reviews. A short, warm reply to every review shows travelers (and AI) that someone is home.
Three things to do this month
1. Ask ChatGPT about your own category. Type what your guests would type: "Best breakfast in Willemstad" or "Snorkel tour Curaçao with kids." See who it names and what it says about you. That answer is your new first impression.
2. Collect your ten front-desk questions. Put the answers on your website, one question at a time. Hotels, restaurants, tour operators and vacation rental managers all have them.
3. Design one filmable moment. Pick it, polish it, and make sure your whole team knows: this is the moment.
The same works for businesses on Aruba and Bonaire. Different island, same traveler on the couch.
Quick answers
How do tourists choose a restaurant or hotel on Curaçao?
More and more of the choosing happens before the trip: in AI assistants like ChatGPT, in short videos on TikTok and Instagram, and on Google Maps. Travelers arrive with a shortlist and use the island to confirm it.
How does my hotel or restaurant on Curaçao show up in ChatGPT?
By making sure it can find clear, specific information about you. AI assistants build recommendations from your website, your Google Business Profile, reviews and mentions elsewhere online. The more concrete your information, the easier you are to recommend.
What is a quick marketing win for a hospitality business on Curaçao?
Put the answers to the questions guests ask most on your website, keep your Google Maps listing complete and current, and create one moment guests want to film. All three cost attention, not a big budget.
Are you on your next guest's shortlist?
Our free scan looks at your marketing and visibility on Curaçao and shows where your next guests can find you. Five minutes, a personal report, no pitch.
Get your free scan ↗Rather talk it through? Say hello. Daisy is on the island.