 |
|
 |
|
| Issue #18 10 April 2001 |
|
| Entre Nous Bonaire's Monthly Newsletter |
|
CULTURAL REPORT |
|
Bonaire's architecture
is a wonderfully eclectic example of conventional
|
|
|
|
Two new Restaurants are now open for business. Sand Dollar Condominium Resorts is the home of The Terrace Sports Bar and Restaurant. Located adjacent to the tennis courts, patrons are treated to an open air, poolside setting. The Terrace Sports Bar and Restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Saturday BBQ night. Overall the menu is extensive and the portions generous. Lions Dive is the venue for Kirk Gosden’s Lion’s Den Restaurant. Again, another eatery with an extensive and well-planned menu. Open for breakfast and dinner (lunch beginning in May), the restaurant overlooks the shorefront and is ideal for catching a glimpse of the Green Flash! The Fresh Company (TFC) at the Lourdes Shopping Mall, Kralendijk, has opened its doors as of March 26, 2001 serving fresh coffee, bagels, donuts and sandwiches from 9:00 am – 7:00 pm. For those that would
love to socialize with friends in a great setting try the BONGOS
Beach bar at Eden Beach Resort, adjacent to Harbour Village, or the Flamingo
Nest at Divi Flamingo Beach don’t miss their Happy Hour’s from 5:00
- 9:00 |
|
Burney
el Hage, Marketing Director since 1997, will be taking a position at
DEZA, Bonaire's Department of Economics and Labor Affairs as Chief
Economist. In his capacity at DEZA, he hopes to help re-generate
and stimulate Bonaire's economic growth and health. Ann
Louise Tuke, Marketing Consultant since 1999 and Special Project
Coordinator since 1996, will be moving back to the U.S. with her
family to take the position of Marketing Director for Caradonna
Caribbean Tours, one of Bonaire's largest tour wholesalers. She
will obviously be a great asset abroad to bringing even more visitors
down with over 12 years experience in the industry here on Bonaire. TCB
will miss Burney and Ann Louise and sincerely wishes them both
continued success, health and happiness in their new positions.
TCB Announcements We
are proud to say that TCB's Product Development Coordinator, Debby
Wauben, now with us for over 6 months, has proven herself as a
valuable member of TCB's management team and will no doubt take TCB to
new heights in the future as Bonaire continues to grow and develop as
a premiere vacation destination. In addition, we are also very
pleased with the continuing efforts of TCB's Marketing Analyst,
Suhailey Pourier. At this time we are happy to introduce the
newest member of the management team, Kazandra Rodriguez, who
began as TCB's Marketing Coordinator only a few weeks ago.
She is already showing signs of being a valuable asset to TCB's
efforts to promote Bonaire's tourism. With
these changes, we know we will be able to count on your continued
support and cooperation in assisting this new team in reaching their
goals.
|
|
TCB
PERSONALITY, meet
Debby Wauben On August 15, 2000, Debby Wauben joined the team of
TCB as Product Development Coordinator, after having concluded seven
years of education in Tourism and Recreation in Holland. She is making
it a point to meet all the Tourism partners both on Bonaire and
overseas. “It is with much pleasure that I can say that I am
enjoying my challenging job and I will continue to put all my efforts
into improving the tourism product of Bonaire. I cannot say the latter
without adding that for the greatest part, TCB and I can only do so with
support of all the partners on Bonaire.
I look forward to a close working relationship with all of you,
and would like to share with you my personal motivation quote in life
and in business…"Success is not a
destination, half the fun is getting there”.
|
|
|
|
FAM
TRIPS At
this time the following FAM trips have been confirmed.
April
20 - 22
, 2001 The
top story is that the American Eagle will be serving Bonaire
via Puerto Rico starting on June 2nd. The initial Fam trip
flight will depart San Juan Friday at 5:00 p.m., arriving
Bonaire at 7:10 p.m. They will be on island Friday night and all day
Saturday, departing Bonaire at 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning.
America Eagle is responsible for filling all seats on this trip.
May 11 - 14, 2001 A special "post conference tour" following the American Airlines Travel Exchange in San Juan, May 9 - 11 has been confirmed. The trip will be offered to all of the travel agents attending the Travel Exchange. GoGo is coordinating all of the post conference trips on behalf of American Airlines and will handle the reservations/bookings for the trip. The trip is tentatively scheduled to leave San Juan at 6:10 p.m. and arrive Bonaire at 7:20 p.m. Friday, May 11th. The trip will depart Bonaire at 6:25 a.m. and arrive San Juan at 8:45 a.m. on Monday, May 14th.
TRADE
SHOW ACTIVITIES UPDATE FIRST QUARTER 2001 DEMA 2001 January 24-27 2001
New Orleans, LA It’s just never too late for good news! There were 15,261 people
in attendance for this year’s show with the total number of
exhibitors reaching 718. The
overall impression of the show was very positive and the DCP
exhibitors returned home quite satisfied. The traffic flow was
steady and while our operators booked groups, bought equipment,
etc., TCB was present to field questions, promote our destination
and conduct meetings of our own. The new destination video ran
continuously and people stopped in their tracks to watch it. Once
again the ABC’s joined together to exhibit as the Dutch
Caribbean; only this year we won First Prize for the Best Aisle of
the show. We were awarded the First Place ribbon (which is proudly
hanging in the TCB-Bonaire office) and we’ll be recognized in
the next DEMA Newsletter. On
the evening prior to the show’s opening, the ABC’s once again
sponsored a Travel Agent Cocktail reception. Our ABC slide
presentations were all in 3-D and according to DEMA, there were
over 180 travel agents. (A
big “Thank You” must go to Jack Chalk of Capt. Don’t Habitat
for being the mastermind for the 3-D set-up.) The
next DEMA Show will be October 22-25, 2002 in Las Vegas. INTERNATIONAL
ADVENTURE TRAVEL & OUTDOOR SHOW (IATOS) February 15-18, 2001 Chicago,
IL This
show has grown into a huge opportunity to promote Bonaire as a
Dive Plus destination and to reinforce the fact that Bonaire has
led the way in environmental preservation and eco-activities.
Securing the position of Destination Sponsor, we opened and
sponsored the World Congress Luncheon that was held the day before
the show opened to the public. Over 170 guests were present. The
next evening we sponsored the Industry Reception and presented our
video and even more speeches. Bonaire’s Intimate Stays
and the Plaza Resort
Bonaire both graciously
provided prizes with complimentary air on Air Jamaica,
which were awarded to two lucky travel agents who won the raffle. In
the end, all those who attended both events clearly came to
understand Bonaire and why it serves as a role model for all
Islands throughout the Caribbean. And
now for the statistics…the overall attendance of the show was
17,221, which was a 12% increase over last year.
Over the three-day period there were approximately 350
travel agents who attended the show. As this was a consumer show,
we spent more time talking to people about the Bonaire product, as
adventure travelers are the fastest growing segment in the
industry and the competition for their vacation dollars is fierce.
We met with other adventure tour operators to educate them about
Bonaire, and to find out if they would sell Bonaire in their
adventure travel programs. We also met with several travel website
companies that were soliciting Bonaire for our business such as
Away.com, and Virtuoso. The
dates for the show for 2002 are not available at this time and
will be listed in the next issue. BENEATH THE SEA (BTS) March
23-25, 2001 New
Jersey (Show Statistics were not available at the time of writing and will be listed in the next issue.) As
one of the top consumer dive shows in the US, attracting
recreational and potential divers and snorkelers, Bonaire was well
represented at this show. As many of the attendees were familiar
with the destination, there were numerous discussions about the
air transportation, developments on the Island, restaurants, etc.
at our booth. Saturday
and Sunday were very busy days, as it seemed that people were
planning summer vacations and/or were interested in traveling this
Fall Season. Overall,
we received very positive feedback about the product and
especially about Air Jamaica.
With three major gateways, NY-JFK, Newark and Philadelphia
in the vicinity, the people who attended BTS have easy access to
scheduled air and were eager to tell us how pleased they were with
Air Jamaica’s service to Bonaire. As
this was also the ideal show to announce and promote the new
American Eagle service, a special flyer was designed just for the
show. Once again, the positive feedback about this new
service was overwhelming and many said they wished they could fly
sooner and not have to wait until June 2nd ! (There
will be more to report on this show once the stats are in!!!)
Over the past
month Bonaire's name has been splashed throughout the travel
and trade magazines and newspapers. New
York Daily News (circulation 820,230)
The March 18,
2001 travel section of the NY Daily News featured a placement
on hotel package deals during the summer months including packages
in Bonaire. The article highlights a package at Light House
Beach Resort and Aqua Viva Apartments giving package details, prices
and numbers to call for more information. Washington
Post (circulation 1,087,259)
The February 25,
2001 travel section of the Washington Post featured an article on
Caribbean festivals. Including information on music, sailing and
food festivals the article included information on Bonaire's
International Sailing Regatta (the only other sailing festival
included was Antigua's Sailing Week). Information on the Regatta
from when it takes place to festival activities were included
along with costs to participate in the event and where to get additional
information (TCB toll free number, website and the official Sailing
Regatta website). We worked closely with the article's
author Carolyn Brown to provide the most accurate information on the Regatta. Newark
Star-Ledger (circulation 665,433)
The March 4,
2001 travel section of the Newark Star-Ledger featured an
article on the top seven dive sites around the world, including
Bonaire. The section on Bonaire featured the author's choice for
the island's top underwater attraction - "some of the most
pristine coral in the Caribbean," the top post dive diversion -
"windsurfing," and hot resort - "Harbour Village Beach
Resort." The section goes on to say that Bonaire is "a
well kept secret" where "nature thrives" "both
above and below the water" and that "there's no need to
travel far to swim with orange trumpet fish in visibility of 100 feet
or more." Utica
Shelby Source (circulation 20,783)
The February 4,
2001 travel section of this Detroit newspaper included a feature
article profiling Bonaire. The article written by a writer on
staff at Copley News Service, one of the U.S.'s largest wire services,
includes background information on Bonaire plus diving, windsurfing
and sightseeing information along details on Washington/Slagbaai
National Park, and a number of hotels including Antar Atman
Bhavan,
Captain Don's Habitat, Buddy Dive Resort and
Harbour Village Beach Resort, plus a large windsurfing photo. Also included in
the article is airline information and Bonaire's website address. The same feature
article also appeared in the February 18, 2001 Voices Weekly Star
(circulation 21,000), a Connecticut newspaper. Back to the topDayton
News (circulation 203,067)
The February 25,
2001 travel section of the Dayton (Ohio) News featured an
article giving the answers "experts" like Editor of Islands
Magazine, Joan Tapper gave about their favorite beaches.
According to Ms. Tapper one of the best beaches in the world
is Pink Beach in Bonaire. One of six beaches around the
world that she chose (and the only one in the Caribbean), Ms. Tapper
states in the article that Pink Beach is "the sandiest
strand on the mellow Dutch island that's known for its spectacular
marine life. You can walk in and find great snorkeling"
A syndicated
article from Knight Ridder News Service, the same article also
appeared in the Duluth News-Tribune (circulation 76,620) on
February 11, 2001. Hersam-Acorn
Newspaper Group (circulation 21,400)
The February 8,
2001 travel section of this group of 7 regional Connecticut newspapers
featured an article on the ABC Islands. Written by well known
travel writer Katharine Dyson, who took her first scuba lesson in
Bonaire, the article includes information in the Bonaire section on
the island's diving ("Bonaire is one of the world's most popular
dive destinations"), snorkeling ("once you've snorkeled
here, it will be hard to find another place as great") and marine
life are the focus. The Hersam-Acorn
Newspapers are a group of seven newspapers distributed in the
Bridgeport, CT area, including the
Ridgefield Ledger, New
Canaan Advertiser, Darien Times, Ridgefield Press, Wilton Bulletin,
Weston Forum, and Redding Pilot. Travel World New
(circulation 30,000) The March 2001
issue of Travel World News featured a placement on the Fifth
Annual Dive Festival. The article contained information on the
Dive Festival packages including prices and the names of the Host
Hotels (Buddy Dive Resort, Captain Don's
Habitat, Divi Flamingo Beach
Resort, Harbour Village Beach
Resort and Sand Dollar Condominium
Resort), and official Dive Festival Wholesalers (Caribbean Adventures,
Caradonna Caribbean Tours, Maduro Dive Fanta-Seas and PADI Travel
Network). TCB's toll free number was included for more
information. Travel Weekly
(circulation 56,180) The
February 15, 2001 issue of Travel Weekly featured an article on
the preservation of Klein Bonaire and the island's efforts to make
it into a national park. Using information obtained from our
press materials the article focuses on not only the island but also
the continued efforts of the Preservation of Klein Bonaire (FPKB)
featuring information the organization and a number of quotes from
George DeSalvo, an organization's member, regarding the future plans
for Klein Bonaire. In
addition on the same page, is a placement on Plaza Resort Bonaire
AquaKids Program. Including detailed information on the
activities associated with the program the placement includes the cost
of the program as well as Plaza Resort
Bonaire's reservations number
and website address.
Travel Weekly
(circulation 56,180) The March 15,
2001 issue of Travel Weekly featured a section on Bonaire
containing two article one on Rincon Day, highlighting the various
activities that take place throughout the day, the other on Aqua Viva
Apartments and the packages they offer (Viva Drive & Dive, Viva
Adventure and Viva Windsurfing). Information for both
articles was obtained from press releases Caribbean Editor Gay Nagle
Myers received over the past few months. A four-color photo
of Rincon accompanied the article on Rincon Day.
Caribbean Travel &
Life (circulation 115,000) The March 2001
issue of Caribbean
Travel & Life featured a placement on the introduction of the
Bonaire Dive Bus. Information on this was obtained from the
Bonaire Briefs sent out in early 2001.
Promotion of American
Eagle Service To Bonaire is in High Gear In support of
the launch of the American Eagle service to Bonaire, TCB-New York and
Adams Unlimited has been hard at work getting the word out about these
new flights. To this end we have done the following: Newswire Release On Monday March
26, 2001 a press release was sent out to on the newswire
announcing the new American Eagle service and highlighting the
promotional packages offered by the 18 hotels that provided some kind
of special packages/pricing for the American Eagle launch. The
release directed readers to the Bonaire website for further
information. Flyers
for Beneath the Sea Consumer Dive Show At the Beneath
the Sea Show in Secaucus, New Jersey March 23 - 25, 2000, flyers
featuring the lead price of $394.00 round trip on American Airlines
from JFK (plus tax and airport fees) was featured. The flyer directed
consumers to contact their travel professionals for further
information, including those hotels offering "8th Night
Free" packages. Press
Release for 8th Night Fr A press release
announcing those hotels offering the "8th Night Free"
packages was distributed to all media outlets on Thursday March 28,
2001. The participating hotels are include Buddy Dive
Resort, Captain
Don's Habitat, Deep Blue View Bed &
Breakfast, Divi Flamingo Beach
Resort & Casino, Harbour Village Beach
Resort, Plaza Resort
Bonaire, and Port Bonaire. |
MARKETING TO TRAVEL AGENTS STARTED IN HOLLANDAs a part of our thrust into the new European-marketing strategy outlined this past winter, our Dutch colleagues have started their marketing-efforts with travel agents. “Last December, we made a decision to focus our efforts,” explained strategy director Robert Bolhuis. “That means we identified the top 20% booking agencies. We are making our plans now be ready just after the summer so we can target the right travel-agents for our campaign for next year’s high season.” Together with Linda and Jake Richter, we now have a Dutch Language Section on www.infobonaire.com. Within the next couple of weeks this section will be completed with vacation offers from various Dutch tour operators. Our next target market will be the UK- and German Market with the same service. AIR HOLLAND COMMENCES ITS SERVICE TO BONAIREIn addition to KLM (twice a week on Sunday and Tuesday with KL 789), charter Air Holland is flying to Bonaire. At first with a stop at the Azores, but soon they will fly directly out of Amsterdam to our island. This charter is considered quite an opportunity for the Dutch Market in addition to KLM ‘s flights. GOLDEN FLAMINGO: PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD FOR TRAVEL AGENTS One of the marketing-instruments used is selecting the best travel agents to target in next years campaign is the new Golden Flamingo distinction. This is a brand-new people’s choice award. Starting with the Dutch (being our premier European Market), visitors to Bonaire can nominate their travel agent for this award. The travel agent with the most votes will be presented this award at a trade-event November 9 at Jaarbeurs Utrecht (just before WTM London). NCRV TELEVISION COVERS BONAIREAs a result of efforts directed towards TV-producers, the Dutch Public Broadcaster NCRV, filmed during the first weeks of April on Bonaire. The result will be a documentary of about a half hour in which photographer Anton Veldkamp is followed in his day-to-day life on Bonaire. Our thanks to Plaza Resort for hosting the crew. DUTCH CARIBBEAN MEETS EUROPE: MAY 14-18DCTC, our promotion-office Europe for developing our business outside the Netherlands, has organized a trade-event for Bonaire and the other 5 islands of the Dutch Caribbean on May 14-18. This event will take place on Aruba, the host of this years meeting. DCTC invited over 1100 wholesalers/tour operators throughout Europe. Their registration closes April 7th. In addition to the event on Aruba, pre- and posttours are organized to Bonaire: May 8-11, May 12-14, May 18-20 and May 20-22. Both Bonhata and BHG have been informed in detail on this upcoming event. The contact person at DCTC’s office is Mr. Tirso Tromp: (Dutch.Caribbean-TC@t-online.de).
|
|
|
|
Easter
week April 11- 15 Easter is
fast approaching and once again we have charters from Americana de
Turismo and Arts & Travel programmed together with All Ways Tours,
as well as the traditional groups of dive operators. In addition to the
charter operations, and for the first time, AIR ALM is arranging
a regular direct flight to the island of Bonaire April 11/14. A full
report of the Easter week operations will be available in the next Entre
Nous.
Tourism
specials in the news media February
– Aserca Airlines magazine "Por todo lo alto" There was a
photograph of "Pink Beach" and with the caption:
"Perfectly Pure", in the Aserca Airlines Magazine The article
promotes Bonaire, emphasizing diving as the principal activity on the
island. It also
mentions our other activities as well. The review closes with an
invitation to the reader to ask for a pamphlet, which is available from
the TCB offices in Curacao. Bonaire,
promoting itself in the Rotary Clubs In
anticipation of the Annual Assembly of Rotary Antilles on Bonaire on
April 06/09, TCB, together with the hosting hotel Divi
Flamingo, addressed Rotary in Caracas twice in order to
familiarize the members with the island and give them the incentive to
come to Bonaire. The result…. Rotary contracted a small charter flight
to Bonaire for the assembly. TCB
Venezuela is promoting a new poster of Dushi Bonaire depicting her as
the eco-adventure destination of the Caribbean, using magnificent
photographs of its crystal clear diving, a relaxing destination that
again and again attracts vacation- as well as adventure tourism by means
of the different activities on the island. If you would like one you can request it through TCB on the island or via our e-mail flamingorep@telcel.net.ve (click here to view the flyer) In
support of the hard work of our tour operators, TCB Venezuela has
produced a glossy, four-colored flyer where potential visitors can find
interesting facts about Bonaire. The spectacular full colored
photographs of the island of Bonaire show a destination that offers not
only a premiere diving destination, but also a destination that is known
for relaxation and eco-adventure. The
back of the flyer is especially designed to aid the tour operators in
promoting their hotel packages. This flyer has been of great use to the
number of our tourism partners and at present is being distributed
through travel agencies of Venezuela. If have anyone that would like to obtain some of these flyers or you know of any operators that would benefit by having a supply, please contact us at flamingorep@telcel.net.ve and we will make sure that they receive the material (click here to view the promotional flyer) Flamingo
Rep celebrates on April 07 In anticipation of our upcoming anniversary on April 7, we are preparing projects geared promoting the island of Bonaire. In the next Entre Nous we’ll have details. Don’t miss out on them. MAR
07th – Newspaper TAL CUAL This paper
has published a review to the island of Bonaire, making it stand out as
the eco-adventure destination of the Caribbean to be discovered via each
one of the activities that have been visitors may take part in. MAR
19th - Newspaper- EL UNIVERSAL Because of
Easter week coming up, the prestigious business paper El Universal,
published a special on vacations. Among those recommended Caribbean
destinations, Bonaire stands out as an ideal place for those with an
adventurous spirit, most especially lovers of diving. MARCH
Magazine TRAVESIAS
This
magazine for unusual sports dedicates 6 pages to Bonaire with full color
photographs that show crystal clear diving and the healthy reef along
with other activities. Travesías is a magazine aimed at people who like
adventure filled vacation. It
has a number of upscale advertisers some of which are Victorinox,
Sebago, Gatorade, BMW, Bollé, Mercedes Benz, Apple Computers Imac, and
others. MAR
28 Newspaper EL GLOBO With the
suggestive headline "Caribbean beach, sun and fun", this
paper, in its tourism edition, promotes Bonaire as an ideal destination
for those who like the eco-adventure, describing each one of the
activities to be found on the island. March
Edition Magazine Business Venezuela Dedicated
to the islands of Caracas, St. Martin and Bonaire this prestigious
English language magazine writes of the quality of diving in Bonaire…
"Bonaire is all about diving and snorkeling. Experts consider it
the best site in the world for shore diving. Over 250 different fish
species swim its waters; more than can be found anywhere else in the
Caribbean."
|
|
|
|
BONAIRE HIGHLIGHTED IN AN ARTICLE FEATURED BY THE MIAMI HERALD
The January 21, 2001, edition of The Miami Herald (circulation 448,897) featured an article "Islands Offer Understated But Friendly Welcome to Gays." They indicated the most welcoming islands were in the French Caribbean (Martinique, St. Barts and French St. Martin) and the Dutch Caribbean (Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire).
The
article said "Placid, earthy Bonaire is all about space; it's more
than one-and-a-half the size of Aruba, but with only 20 percent as many
people." Further they recommended the "friendly and
commodious" Ocean View Villas, http://www.oceanviewvillas.com,
the only gay-owned and gay-operated accommodations in the ABCs.
|
|
|
|
| April 2001 | ||
| 8 | Simadan (Harvest) Festival in Rincon | |
| 8 | 5km/17km MCB Run Stadion Kralendijk | |
| 13 | Good Friday | |
| 15 | Easter Sunday | |
| 22 | Earth Day | |
| 29 | Queen's Birthday Sailing Race | |
| 30 | Rincon Day | |
| 30 | Queen Birthday | |
| 30 | 17 km Run | |
| May 2001 | ||
| 1 | Labor Day | |
| 19 | 5th Bonaire Mountain Bike Challenge Race | |
| 20 | Road Race 80 km Cycle Bonaire | |
| 24 | Ascension Day | |
| 27 | 3km run Race | |
| * | Dutch Antilles Windsurfing Challenge (Lac Bai Cai) | |
| June 2001 | ||
| 2 | Cycling tour (Kralendijk- Lac Bai) | |
| 3 | Pente Costel | |
| 9-16 | 5th annual Bonaire Dive Festival | |
| 24 | 5km run Race | |
| 24 | St. John's Day | |
| 29 | St. Peter's Day | |
| 30 | 6th Angola Construction Sailing Competition | |
| * To be announced | ||
| For a complete calendar of events visit our website at www.infobonaire.com | ||
|
For a complete calendar of events visit our website at http://www.infobonaire.com/ Note: Dates are subject to change. Cruise ship schedule is available upon request at the TCB Office. If you have any additions, changes or corrections to this planner please send these to S. Pourier via fax (8408) or e-mail: tcb@bonairelive.com - thank you. *To unsubscribe or subscribe go to http://www.bonaireentrenous.com ********************************************* Tourism Corporation Bonaire Kaya Grandi #2 Bonaire Dutch Caribbean Tel: 599-717-8322/ 8649 Fax: 599-717-8408 E-mail: tcb@tourismbonaire.com Website address: http://www.infobonaire.com/ **************************************************** |
|
Bonaire's Monthly Newsletter Tourism Corporation Bonaire E-mail: tcb@tourismbonaire.com |
 |
Internet presence, production and
hosting Copyright © 1997-2000 the Webster P O Box 553, Baldwin City, KS 66006 785 / 594-2194 |