The Government of Aruba has been working with IT specialist SITA and its partner Indicio to showcase a document-free way to travel to the Caribbean island. The implementation of verifiable digital travel credentials (DTC), removes the need for passengers to show their physical passport when arriving on the island.
In line with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards, passengers can now create a secure digital version of their physical passport on their mobile device. Using a DTC , passengers can consent to share their relevant data directly from their digital wallet on their mobile device to multiple screening points across journeys, from authorities at the port of entry to hotels and other checkpoints requiring ID confirmation.
The Aruban authorities hope to permanently roll out digital identity to verify visitors arriving on the island which would make it one of the first countries globally to do so.
“As an island where tourism is fundamental to our economy, we want to make the immigration process as easy as possible for passengers,” said Andrew Hoo, Director of Immigration for the Government of Aruba. With a DTC we now have a way to make entering the country as easy as scanning your face while meeting our security needs.”
He added that this is the start of Aruba’s digital transformation journey. “We want to use this technology, so that visitors will never forget they are on vacation when they arrive on the island.”
Jeremy Springall, SVP of SITA at borders added: “The development of DTC represents the biggest innovation in the travel industry in at least a decade. It will fundamentally simplify how we travel, allowing governments to approve passengers ahead of travel so they arrive at the airport ready to fly. To be identified, all passengers need to do is scan their face.”
