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a.
Venezuela
— October 03rd - Carlos Coste, Venezuelan pride
Once again, Carlos Coste was able to
breech the depths of the ocean. It resulted in 93 meter in free dive,
breaking the last record of 92 meters by the Austrian Hebert Nitsch
on dated July 27, 2002.
Carlos Coste was our guest in the IV
Discover Bonaire, TCB Official Seminars recently, where he shared his
knowledge with the travel agents and also showed them the importance
of breathing correctly. This world record Champion is very interested
in visiting Bonaire in 2003, so our office in Caracas will be working
on it.
—New
Divi Flamingo Representation.
Since October, Mrs. Lucrecia
Laborde from Labor de Viajes is the new South America representative
for the Divi Flamingo Hotels.
—Avavit
Trade Show Nov 25th to the 27th
Bonaire will be present again
at the annual trade show Avavit. BHG Hotels, Bonhata, Divi Flamingo
and Sand Dollar will also participate.
—Habitat…
its promotion directly to consumers
We’re glad to have Captain
Dons promoting their property in the prestigious tennis and golf Club
Izcaragua from October 20th to Nov 24th during their event “ II Ranking
de Tenis 2002 “.
Izcaragua Country Club was the host
Club of the recent Bonaire Tennis Cup. In this way, we maintain the
image of the Island of Bonaire and the hotels in this new profitable
segment.
—P
& M Magazine…
This monthly magazine called
P&M (Publicity and Marketing), in the July issue made a special
report introducing to its readers the key personalities in the Venezuelan
Tourism Industry and where Yasmin Pérez from Flamingo Rep (south
America TCB representative), was interviewed with a nice full color
page.
The article, titled “Diversión
bajo el Mar” commented that while other destinations are known for shopping
and entertainment, Bonaire is known protecting the underwater environment
and offering relaxation and world-class diving and eco-adventure activities.
Yasmin emphasized in her interview that
every day travelers are contacting more and more our tourism office
to learn all about the island of Bonaire.
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b. Ecuador
Following the Ecuadorian market…
—Transport
Magazine
As a result of the meeting
in the city of Guayaquil, a full page in the trade magazine TRANSPORT,
was published with a tittle “Bonaire, la nueva escala de KLM a Europa”.
In the issue the journalist highlighted that suddenly the Ecuadorians
can visit Bonaire very easily since KLM started to use the Flamingo Airport
hub. Also the magazine told about the presentations in Quito and Guayaquil
in cooperation with the Bonaire Official Delegation and Surland.
KLM, the main tour operator, has informed
their agents of the beauty of this ecological Dutch island, where the
main attractions are not the beaches but in its pristine diving considered
the best in the Caribbean. It is an island very safe and calm, ideal
for the family, with packages established for the market; one of them
offering travelers to Europe to stop over in Bonaire for some days without
paying additional charge.
—The
main tour operator Mr. Reinhard from Surland informed us that they are
receiving many requests for tourists interested in coming to Bonaire
at the end of this year.
—KLM
Staff incentive Trip…
On November 15th, KLM will have
an incentive program for its Ecuador staff in order to familiarize with
this new destination. We have heard that this is the first time that
KLM implemented a program like this, a tremendous effort that will reap
benefits to Bonaire and the Ecuadorian market too.
—Tatiana
Valdivieso Quito KLM´s Marketing Manager. Came to Bonaire with
her husband to their vacation. Also Brenda Martinez for Surland Guayaquil
visited Bonaire to get to know the island and the different properties
of BHG and Bonhata.
—Quito
and Guayaquil Travel agencies Data Base.
With the database that we
obtained recently form our presentations in Ecuador; we’re now sending
them our greetings and Bonaire general information.
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c.
Peru
The new opening market…
—KLM
Lima has a good experience selling the Dutch Caribbean in the Peruvian
market. Since they knew that on December 1st, KLM would fly to Europe
via Bonaire, they have been working very close with TCB getting all
the information related to the island.
—In
November KLM Lima informed us that they will have contact with more
than 300 frequent flyers to introduce the island of Bonaire as its new
hub in the Caribbean. For this special event the airline will create
a Bonaire atmosphere with large images, video presentation and surrounding
Bonaire music. All this will take place in a central location in Lima.
—In
its web page, KLM have been working to have Bonaire general information,
as well as the connecting flights from Bonaire to the Caribbean.
—A
newsletter that has more than 5000 subscriptions announcing that from
December 1st KLM will fly to Europe via Bonaire as a their new operation
center in the Dutch Caribbean will be mailed soon
—Tour
Operators. Our TCB office in Caracas has already a database with the
main tour operators in Peru and is starting to contact them to introduce
Bonaire and the islands properties.
Knowing the behavior of the Peruvian
market…
- Average stay in the Caribbean: 3
nights, 4 days
- Seasons to visit the Caribbean: Easter
week, Holidays, Summer Vacations (May/Oct.).
- How much time in advance do they
plan vacations? One month before or the same week.
- Main city in Peru: Lima with 60%
- Main news papers: El Comercio
- Fam Trip average length: 3 nights,
4 days
- Road show cities average length:
Lima 3 days / Arequipa 2 days / Chicago 1 day.
- Information about Bonaire
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d. Chile
Bonaire is known in Chile
On November 6th the magazine “ La Revista
del Domingo” that is always inserted on Sundays in the most prestigious
newspaper Mercurio in Chile, will publish a special edition about the
fifty tourism destinations recommended for the summer season and where
Bonaire is included.
Barbara Meyer, the journalist in charge
of the Caribbean destinations has informed us that Mercurio has 350.000
copies just on Sunday; also this special tourism edition will be sold
in all the newsstands. She contacted TCB asking for all the information
about Bonaire and we were very pleased to invite her to come Bonaire.
e. Events calendar trade shows
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We did
a Bonaire dinner/cocktail party in Italy. Decorated with Bonaire flags,
menu in Papiamentu, Caribbean Cocktails, (no swizzle sticks though),
and island music for the final touch of dancing.
The
reactions have been marvelous, both by our guests and by the local
critics. The Dutch magazine Duiken mentioned it with a nice picture
of Divi Flamingo in their section 'Antillen Nieuws', supporting our
effort to bring European business to
Bonaire and to Divi Flamingo in particular.
Picture
Bonaire is the newest addition to the list of "things to do".
Nov
30 - Arrival of St. Nicholaas (Sinterklaas)