As part of the Bonaire Cuisine Month program, TCB and a variety of tourism stakeholders hosted a group of four top cuisine influencers on social media on a press visit to the island, May 26-31, 2015. Participants of the group included Stefanie Michaels of AdventureGirl, Kellee Edwards of Kellee Set Go!, Michelle Yam of Michelle Yam Photography and Tara MacIntyre of Caribbean Journal.
The objective of the press trip was to raise the profile of Bonaire’s culinary product and to showcase its diversity to Bonaire’s visitors. Twitter and Instagram were the two top social media networks that were employed to deliver Bonaire’s message about its culinary treasures. Live posting via the writers’ pages about their dining experiences placed Bonaire in front of their extensive networks of followers. As a result of the journalists continuously posting to their large social media followers while on island, Bonaire received excellent visibility and was exposed to an audience of over 17.8 million people! TCB-NA created #BonaireEats as the official hashtag for Bonaire Cuisine Month. As a result of including #BonaireEats in TCB’s social media posts, Bonaire was exposed to an audience of 5,508,422 people.
TCB would like to thank all of the private sector who sponsored Bonaire Cuisine Month and also provided complimentary services to the press group; Aletta’s Goat Farm, At Sea Restaurant, The Beach Hut, Between 2 Buns, Bistro de Paris, Blennies at Buddy Dive Resort, Bon Tuk, Bonaire Windsurf Place, Boudoir, Breeze n’ Bites at Den Laman Condominiums, The Cadushy Distillery, Compass Bonaire, Rum Runners at Captain Don’s Habitat, The Dive Hut, Diver’s Diner Bar & Grill, El Mundo, E Teras, Elements Jewelry, Flamingo Balashi Beach Bar, Go Green Ayurveda, The Hangout Bar at Jibe City, Hillside Apartments Restaurant, Ingridients at Buddy Dive Resort, It Rains Fishes, Joe’s Restaurant, Karel’s Beach Bar, Kas at Caribbean Club Bonaire, Cuba Compagine, Eddy’s Restaurant, Kite City at Te Amo Beach, La Cantina, Lek Lek Thai at Hotel Roomer, The Mangrove Center, Plaza Beach Resort Bonaire, Posada Para Mira, Rancho Washikemba, Sorobon Resort, Spice Beach Club at Eden Beach Resort, Sonia Home, Tipsy Seagull at Plaza Beach Resort Bonaire, Wattaburger and Zeezicht Restaurant.