 Entre Nous is the monthly newsletter from the Tourism Corporation Bonaire (TCB), Netherlands Antilles. In this newsletter you will find the accomplishments of TCB in Bonaire, North America, South America and Europe as well as the newest developments within the tourism industry. We hope that you will read it with pleasure and if you have something that you think is relevant for the tourism sector to know just fax it to 717-8408 or e-mail to: info@tourismbonaire.com.
As an added value to the venue, TCB will produce a coupon booklet which will be available to all those visitors who will be on island during BDIS. It is being produced at no cost to the sector and should prove to be a valuable measure of the program. This is an excellent opportunity to promote your business during the summer months and create more traffic. We would like to have all the coupon commitments in place no later than the 15th of March 2007. TCB has sent an email with this request and with details and we kindly ask you to contact Ms. Marloes Vervoort at 717-8322 or temp2@tourismbonaire.com, or Mrs. Helen Thode at 717-8322 or secretary@tourismbonaire.com, if you have not received this email. There will also be a “Taste of Bonaire” each month featuring food and local handicrafts, culture and all things Bonairean. Some additional summer highlights will be The Digital Shootout June 16-23, a Special Scuba Diving Magazine Week July 8-14, the Annual Pro Kids Freestyle Windsurfing Competition and Love Our Planet Week Sept. 15. Tourism Corporation Bonaire (TCB) and Scuba Diving magazine are sponsoring the summer promotion. For more information visit the event’s official website at www.bonairediveintosummer.com. Another event TCB is working on is the 40th Annual Regatta. We are working closely with the committee to mark this impressive milestone celebrating the long ago race between Capt. Don and Ibo Domacasse. It will prove to be a memorable occasion for all the local and international visitors to our island. If you have any specials or packages you wish to include in the Regatta celebration, please let us know so we can be sure to include them. Contact Mr. Robert Evertsz at 717-8322 or asstoffice@tourismbonaire.com. To check out new Bonaire Ambassadors. please visit: www.bonaireambassador.com
Vote! BonaireBattle.tv nominated for Dutch Innovation Award Every year the Dutch travel trade industry awards the most important innovation with the ‘Innovatieveer’. Leading trade magazine ReisRevue organizes this award show and the year Bonaire is also a nominee for this prestigious award. Trade professionals are invited to e-mail their vote to ReisRevue. Which innovation should win the award? Also all readers of this Bonaire Newsletter are invited to e-mail their vote. So please surf to www.reisrevue.nl, click Innovatieveer 2007 and select Bonaire. We’ll keep you posted!
This year we could welcome quite a delegation from Bonaire’s private sector. Hotels, resorts and dive operators, they all were represented in the pink Bonaire booth. After a rather quiet Saturday the show really got a boost on Sunday. And many visitors went straight ahead to the Bonaire booth. No wonder since Bonaire once again sponsored the parking tickets so that every visitor got the Bonaire dive message right under their nose when entering the parking spot. Bonaire upmarket life style press coverage
(Click on the image to enlarge; opens in new window) Bonaire’s care for nature topic in leading Dutch magazine
(Click on the image to enlarge; opens in new window) Due to the viral games and other marketing actions, TCB Europe sends out its e-newsletter to a rapidly growing database of Bonaire-fans. In the current edition TCB also brings the numerous Bonaire videos on www.youtube.com forward. This hype in user generated content features videos of tourists both above and below the water surface. See for yourself how millions of people around the world can view the Bonaire movies. (Click on the image to enlarge; opens in new window)
« Newspaper Trouw features Bonaire
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Scuba Tour comes to a town near you!
Over 750 consumers have tried scuba diving for the very first time in DEMA’s “scuba pool” since the start of the New Year. A list of the 750 consumers was compiled with contact information and sent to the Bonaire Sponsors of the Scuba Tour to follow up with after the Scuba Tour stopped in New York, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Los Angeles and returned to Chicago. Bonaire representatives including Patricia Rowan and Sarah Biggerstaff from TCB-NYC and Papy Cicilia, TCB-BON were on-location at each show to educate consumers about Bonaire’s award-winning diving for pros and beginners alike. TCB-NYC and the Sponsors of the Scuba Tour will be sending these potential customers official destination communication including Bonaire EZ News and Bonaire Briefs to maximize the potential in making these first timers into certified divers and possibly converting them into repeat visitors of Bonaire!
Dive into summer program roll-out
Burrrrrr... An invitation to leave the cold in Canada and come to Bonaire!
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As part of the ongoing press release program, Adams Unlimited researches, writes and prepares a steady stream of releases for mailings to the media for applicable editorial coverage based on editorial calendars and the need to disseminate timely news. In February one press release was written and distributed to the media. The Bonaire Dive Into Summer2007 press release announced the event and guided consumers to the Bonaire Dive Into Summer 2007 website for more information. This release was sent to the North American media. In addition, a press release was drafted about the upcoming Bonaire Heineken Jazz & Salsa Festival. We followed up with Christina Colon who was on-island last month gathering information to update and expand the Bonaire chapter in the guidebook Portable Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. We will continue to keep in touch as she approaches her deadline to answer any questions that come up and to fact-check the new information. We confirmed with Christina Persico, Travel Editor, of the New York Daily News (circulation 802,100) that Jay Cheshes will be heading to Bonaire on an Adams media visit this month. Jay will be on island the week of March 25. The focus of his feature article will be to talk about why Bonaire is such a great destination for new divers. Arrangements are being made for Jay to attend classes at a local dive shop in New York and ultimately complete his Open Water Certification dives in Bonaire. Get that Marine Park Tag ready for a new diver! We confirmed Bruce Bishop, a Canadian travel journalist, who writes for a number of North American and European-based publications will be visiting the island in late March.Sherman’s Travel (circulation 200,000) Sport Diver (circulation 200,000) Scuba Diving (circulation 185,000) Diversion Magazine (circulation 160,000)
Let’s go to Bonaire for Carnival! Even though the hotels were fully booked, many diving groups were able to come to the island by making reservations ahead of time. On this occasion, Bonaire hosted divers coming from Epsilon Dive, La Tienda de Buceo and Diver’s Home from Venezuela and then Vectra, Adventure Travel, Arribatur and Tripping from Brazil. It was a great week for the island, more than one hundred divers from both markets. Our next holiday... Easter Week! Brazil has annual growth of 100%. As a result of efforts and investments and with airlift improved, we have a notable increase in 2006 in the Brazil market, our biggest in SA focused in the diving segment. Bonaire has high expectations among the divers, considered a top and well known diving destination for its quality and pristine diving, its unlimited shore diving, its visibility conditions and warm water temperature all year as well as competitive prices and security on island. Avianca operates daily flights from Sao Paulo to Aruba via Bogotá and four times a week via Curacao, having at the same time DAE scheduled connecting flights to Bonaire. 2006 Bonaire tourism arrivals … The region shows an estimate growth of 15, 2%, with Venezuela leading the Region generating more tourism for Bonaire. Bonaire this year at PADI Festival Brazil – June 01st to the 3rd Our promotional visits to the market have allowed us get to know better our trade partners who promote Bonaire. We will participate, for the first time, in the PADI Festival, taking place in Sao Paulo on June 01-03. It will be a great experience for TCB and the properties participating to attend talk to divers coming from all Brazil. More information about PADI Festival Brazil, in the next entre nous or contact Yasmin at: southamerica@tourismbonaire.com ESPN Bonaire programs in the Web As result of a press FAM on island last June 2006, Sport Travel ESPN 2 (in Spanish), is airing a series of 5 programs on Bonaire in prime time on the following Fridays: Jan 01st, Feb 02 nd, Feb 16th, March 02nd and the 16th. For those who couldn’t enjoy the previous programs, now you can watch them by a click at: http://www.sport-travel.tv/descarga/programa2.zip Meeting with the Venezuelan diving sector We couldn’t miss our annual gathering with the diving schools! What a great opportunity to do it at the beginning of the year. After revising their 2006 achievements of sending groups to the island and the latest news on Bonaire, the diving schools informed us about their diving groups for Carnival and Easter Week, considering the availability of our hotels on those days. It was a very productive meeting! Airlift situation … Always the airlift issue has to be mentioned; not having direct flights to Bonaire from Venezuela; the diving schools must charter their own flights to the island. We all hope very soon to have DAE flying from Caracas to Bonaire via Curacao as announced by the airline. With direct flights and good rates there are no more excuses not to go to Bonaire any weekend. Among the diveshops invited were Subacqua, Diver’s Home, ChiDivers, Scubatec, Epsilon Dive and Caribbean Reef. DAE flying six times a week to Valencia, Venezuela Starting February 05th, DAE is flying every day (except Saturday) between Valencia and Curacao and connecting to Bonaire the same day as follows: Venezuela is a natural market for Bonaire due to its proximity, for its diving population and a high class leisure segment who love the peace and quiet of the island. The promotional efforts continue in the main trade shows of the market with some advertisement in specialized magazines and mainly focused on getting groups to the island. Brazilian Press Visit to the Island! After 10 years, Alcides Falanghe has come back to Bonaire to make a 10 page report for the April edition in Mergulho, the prestigious diving magazine in Brazil. Alcides editor is a well known underwater photographer and an expert diver being one of the first certified in Brazil. Alcides arrived on island last Feb 22nd and will stay until March 04th. More information in the next entre nous!
Note: Jan-Apr Harvest Period (C,E+T) (H)= Holiday
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TCB’s Bonaire Dive into Summer (BDIS) program is rapidly taking shape. The event will run from June 1st – September 30th, 2007. Thefour-month long, island-wide program will focus on scuba diving through a series of “specialty topics”: Family (for guests who travel with the entire family), Fotography (for those who practice or enjoy photography), Fish (for those who are interested in marine conservation and our ocean planet) and Fun (for divers of all levels). Each week of the summer will feature a guest speaker or special event that will focus on one of the four topics. Additionally, in September many hotels will host special activities and events for single travelers, so during this month the activities and guest speakers will be geared towards those traveling without their families. 
Casual games are games played on the internet. Mostly by women, age 35 and up. For destinations like Bonaire quite an interesting group since many women influence the decision of the holiday destination for above average to put it mildly. Thanks to the close corporation with 
Since the New Year began, the DEMA Scuba Tour has made five stops in four different cities and has introduced a number of dive retailers and consumers alike to the superb diving that Bonaire has to offer. A week prior to each show, digital postcard e-vites were sent to the dive retailers in the surrounding area of where each show was held, inviting them to meet Bonaire’s Scuba Tour Sponsors and to “talk shop”. With each show, the Bonaire Sponsors receive the database of dive retailers. TCB-NYC will continue to send all of them official destination communication including Bonaire EZ News and Bonaire Briefs, while the Sponsors are encouraged to send information about group specials and dive programs offered at their resorts. This month Papy Cicilia, TCB-BON and Sarah Biggerstaff, TCB-NYC will be waiting to meet and greet new audiences in Washington, D.C., Seattle, WA, and Boston, MA.
As announced in Dive Newswire last month, the framework has been established and we have hit the ground running! Bonaire Dive Into Summer 2007 will take place June 1 through September 30 and will focus on diving through a series of specialty topics: Fish, Families, Fotography & Fun! A free coupon book valid all summer long (June 1 – September 30) filled with valuable discounts for hotels, restaurants, shopping, activities, rentals and more will be given to all visitors of the island this summer. Every month a "Taste of Bonaire" experience featuring food, culture, local handicrafts will be held on June 8, July 6, August 3 and September 7 to showcase and all things Bonairean. The month of June will feature the 6th Annual Digital Shootout where participants can learn how to take the perfect picture and follow up with digital enhancements using Photoshop. Additionally, a photo contest will run all summer long with great prizes for the winning entries. Other special events include Scuba Diving Magazine Week July 8-14, featuring quizzes, contests and guided snorkel trips with scuba staffers; The Annual Pro Kids World Freestyle Windsurfing Competition August 1-5, where visitors can be spectators or participants; and Love Our Planet Week September 15-22, in observation of World Clean Up Day with above and below water cleanups.. Many hotels in the month of September will also be offering special discounts and activities for single travelers for those on vacation without their families. There is no registration fee to participate in Bonaire Dive Into Summer and no host hotels. Air Jamaica is the official airline sponsor of the event, along with Tourism Corporation Bonaire and Scuba Diving magazine as official sponsors of the event.
February’s issue of Bonaire EZ News was distributed to our database of consumers and travel agents on the 16th of the month. The issue announced Bonaire Dive Into Summer 2007 and included information about the upcoming event in a question and answer format.
In February one press release was distributed on Dive Newswire. The press release officially announced Bonaire Dive Into Summer 2007 and was posted to the site and distributed on February 20, 2007. Dive Newswire is distributed electronically to more than 6,000 dive shop owners, manufacturers as well as media outlets.
To host Alcides from the magazine Mergulho, Yasmin TCB SA came to the island on Feb 23-25. It was a special weekend, touring the island on two scooters, experiencing our local gastronomy at Maiky´s Snack and other international restaurants around Kralendijk and of course, our incredible pristine diving!. 
Kralendijk, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, February 10, 2007: Construction on Bonaire’s newest shopping mall, The Bonaire District, continues at a steady pace. The development is located in the prime area on the circle interchange where the hotels, town, and suburbs come together. Many hotels, resorts, and apartments are within easy walking distance, and high-end housing developments such as Sabadeco, Santa Barbara, Republiek, and Hato are all within one- to two-kilometers from the development. A yacht marina is also nearby. 
This is a new area being developed where major stores are now being established. The area is well traveled with good connections and major roads to both the suburbs and downtown. The Bonaire District will be the creme de la creme of Bonaire commercial retail space and is an ideal area for specialty boutiques such as a coffee shop, camera center, tropical clothing store, jewelry shop, ice cream parlor, bakery, liquor store, hair salon, deli, gift shops, donut shop, or flower shop.
For additional information, contact Mr. Deepak Daryanani at +(599) 717-2201, email 