| NEW
BONAIRE AMBASSADORS
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AWARDED: |
Dimitri
& Zinaida Breschinsky, Indiana, USA
|
Dimitri & Zinaida Breschinsky from Indiana,
USA just got their Bronze Bonaire Ambassador
Medals from the hands of Ms. Kimberley Dammerman.
Kimberley who is studying at "Nationale
Hoge School voor Toerisme en Verkeer"
is doing her internship her at TCB had the
honor to recognize this couple. 
For 10 consecutive years they have been coming
to Bonaire for a three week vacation in December
and January. Their main purpose is the diving.
which they think is the best in the world,
and the great people they have met here.
Happy Holidays Homes has been their home
away from home for the last few years and
they already booked their next trip with Louise.
|
AWARDED: |
Thomas
and Mary Jane Gal, Virginia, USA |
 At
Sorobon
Beach Resort, Thomas and Mary Jane Gal
receive their Bronze Medal from the Tourism
Corporation for celebrating their tenth consecutive
year of visits.
Thomas and Mary Jane have been coming to Bonaire
since 1994, and, during these ten years, they
have been to our island seventeen times and
always stay at Sorobon Beach Resort, which
is also celebrating its 20th anniversary of
business!
They told us they always return for five weeks
each visit, and soon they will be able to
increase this when Thomas retires from work.
At least, that is what Mary Jane tells us,
with a very big smile on her face.
To see more of Bonaire's Bronze, Silver,
or Gold Ambassadors, visit http://www.bonaireambassador.com
!
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| GOUDEN
FLAMINGO TO BONAIRE FUN TRAVEL
 Once
again, the Bonaire tourists have chosen
Bonaire Fun Travel as their number one tour
operator in the Netherlands. Evelyne Cecilia
and Robert Bolhuis presented the prestigious
award to director Coen de Rooij at the crowded
TCB event at the Vakantiebeurs. Coen de
Rooij was, of course, very pleased and honored
and dedicates this event to the private
sector on Bonaire. "Without them it
would be impossible for us to have so many
satisfied and pleased customers!" BFT
is expanding to Belgium and the UK, thereby
becoming more and more Bonaire's leading
European tour operator.
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EUROPEAN
GROWTH: +65% - HIGH YIELD TOURISTS CHOOSE
BONAIRE
TCB recently published the
arrival figures for 2003. It showed a
65% growth compared to 2002. Over the
last three years (2001-2003) TCB Europe
succeeded in almost doubling the arrivals
from approximately 16.000 tourists in
2001 to over 30.000 in 2003. But even
more important: compared to 2000-2001
the European tourists changed 180 degrees
in characteristics. The charter-tourists
we welcomed in 2000 and 2001 hardly spend
any money on Bonaire. The new tourists
are generally well off and willing to
spend their money in restaurants, car
rentals, bike rentals, dive shops, etc.
Spending on island increased up to 600%.
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DUIKEN
WINS PINK EGG (ROZE EI)
 Every
year TCB Europe awards 'Het Roze Ei' (Pink
Egg). This is an incentive award for the
company, person or travel partner that
TCB Europe expects will bring our island
more visitors in the upcoming year. Last
year's winner, KLM, was one of the 75
spectators who saw Rob Keersmaekers, manager
of the magazine DUIKEN, being invited
to take the chair next to TCB's Robert
Bolhuis. He expressed his warm feelings
for Bonaire (once again!) and said he
was very proud to become part of Bonaire's
history as the 2004 winner of the Pink
Egg. In 2004 DUIKEN celebrates its 15th
anniversary and announced several promotions
for Bonaire.
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FREE
PUBLICITY DUIKMAGAZINE AND ONDERWATERSPORT
When one has limited budgets,
one has to make sure to concentrate marketing
efforts. Therefore. TCB Europe managed
to concentrate dive promotions in the
Netherlands (Bonaire's premier market)
in the first two months of 2004. In addition
to participating in the show DuikVaker,
TCB Europe arranged free publicity (multi
page articles!) in DuikMagazine as well
as Onderwatersport. Also, the new ad-campaign
in DUIKEN started, as well as a special
promotion aimed at Dutch dive shops.
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DUTCH
TRAVEL AGENTS TAKE PRIDE IN WINNING THE
BONAIRE BAG-CONTEST
 During
the months December and (first week of)
January. TCB Europe ran its winter travel
agent prize contest in the Netherlands.
Its climax was at the 'trade day' at the
'Vakantiebeurs' in Utrecht. PR-manager
Marieke Raaff gave four proud and cheering
travel agents, winners of the contest,
their unique Bonaire Bag, This contest
was especially organized for the fine
group of about 600 travel agents who actively
promote Bonaire. It was our way of saying
"thank you" for all the good
work in 2003.
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DIVE
SHOP PROMOTION IN WEEKS PRIOR TO DUIKVAKER
TCB Europe always tries
to be involved in a show wth a broader
marketing plan to make sure all efforts
can be added up to a successful campaign
result, thereby achieving the needed synergy.
Synergy is essential in low budget marketing.
TCB Europe did so with Vakantiebeurs and
will also do so regarding DuikVaker. Therefore.
a national dive shop promotion started
a few weeks prior to the show.
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UK
ADS BASED ON PRESENCE
In 2003 the UK became Bonaires
second largest growing market. A growth
of 109% was beat last years runner-up
Germany (increase "only" 41%).
TCB Europe decided to stress UK over Germany
in advertising, as did the private sector,
and it seems to have worked. Nevertheless
the Netherlands showed a market share
of 70%, by far Bonaire's largest market
since runner up UK only has 8% market
share. For 2004 TCB Europe continued their
ads based on the above figures. We want
to make sure every diver in the UK finds
their way to the web site where all major
UK wholesalers are listed.
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PRE-ITB CAMPAIGN
TO KICK OFF
Right after the Dutch dive
show DuikVaker, TCB Europe will kick off
its pre-ITB campaign. The campaign is
aimed at all major European tour operators
and will place Bonaire in the forefront.
The campaign ends at the trade show ITB
Berlin in March. ITB is the largest trade
show in Europe, attracting buyers from
all over the continent. This makes ITB
the most important show for Bonaire in
Europe. In Europe it's very important
to contact and contract the right tour
operators in order to make sure the tourists
continue to come to our island. Only a
very small percentage of the European
tourists are so called 'self supporters',
booking their ticket and accomodations
on their own. By far, most book their
vacation via a tour operator or a travel
agency. So Bonaire has to ensure a broad
distribution. And we do!
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DCME 2004:
APRIL 24-28 IN ST. MAARTEN
It took some struggle and negotiating
but last week St. Maarten finally agreed
on hosting this year's edition of DCME
(DCME = Dutch Caribbean Meets Europe).
April 24-28 buyers from tour operators
through out Europe will come to St. Maarten
to meet Bonaire's private sector along
side those of the other Dutch Caribbean
island. Before and after the event buyers
can sign-up for pre- and post-tours to
visit Bonaire. CTO Holland has been contracted
to organize this event. At the end of
February TCB Europe will update Bonaire's
private sector on the latest concerning
this event.
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VISITORS
BONAIRE'S ANNUAL TRADE EVENT: ALL TIME HIGH!
On January 13th the annual
Bonaire trade event took place at the
Vakantiebeurs in Utrecht. This year over
75 people attended among which travel
agents, tour operators (like ABC Travel,
Maduro Travel, etc.), dive experts, airlines
(KLM), press (like DUIKEN, Reisburo),
CTO and other friendly NTO's. This was
an all time high and proves once again
Bonaire's has not gone unnoticed in the
Netherlands.
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| DIVE
FESTIVAL MARKETING HITS ITS STRIDE
Marketing efforts for the Eighth
Annual Bonaire Dive Festival started in earnest
in January with a full page ad in Rodale’s Scuba
Diving Magazine. The event schedule was also highlighted
in the Jan. 20, 2004 issue of Bonaire EZ News,
on Dive Newswire and in the January issue of Rodale’s
Depth-Finder e-newsletter. Additionally, tour
operators attending the Adventure Travel Show
in New York, Jan. 9-11, distributed flyers featuring
the hotel packages. The Dive Festival Brochure,
featuring all of the hotel packages will be available
soon.
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DIVE FESTIVAL NEWS
UPDATE
Air Jamaica has once again signed
on as the Official Airline Sponsor of the Dive
Festival. They have sponsored the Dive Festival
every year since they initiated service to the
island.
On January 4, 2004 the Dive Festival
Website, www.bonairedivefestival.com
hit an all time high with 64 hits. They daily
average is 27 hits a day, with ScubaDiving.com
as the largest referrer to the site followed
InfoBonaire.com, search engine Google.com, DiveNewsWire.com
and Yahoo.com.
There are now 12 hotels with special packages
for the Dive Festival including:
Belmar Oceanfront Apartments, Bonaire Lagoen
Hill, Buddy Dive Resort, Capt. Don's Habitat,
Divers Paradise, Divi Flamingo Beach Resort
& Casino, Hamlet Bonaire, Harbour Village
Beach Club, Plaza Resort, Port Bonaire, Portofino
Hotel, Yacht Club, and Sand Dollar Condominium
Resort.
PRESS
VISITS TO THE ISLAND
The 2004 Public Relations program
kicked off this year on January 27, with the
visit of Chelle Walton, a writer for Bridal
Guide, one of the premiere magazines for brides
to be. Also scheduled for visits during the
coming months is a writer from Outside Magazine,
the former editor of Islands Magazine (now working
on a book on the Caribbean), as well as the
dive editor of the Miami Herald.
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AP WIRE
STORY TO FEATURE NIGHT DIVING IN BONAIRE
On January 26, 2004 there was a major story
on night diving in Bonaire, accompanied by four
underwater photos of Bonaire. In addition to
being picked up nationally by the premiere major
market newspapers, the story will also be featured
on three key websites, www.cnn.com,
www.abc.com,
and www.usatoday.com
. TCB NYC worked with the Associated Press travel
editor to secure the placement.
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EDITORAL PLACEMENTS:
HIGHLIGHTS
NJ Herald News (circulation
40,000)
The November 9 travel section the NJ Herald
News spoke about islands that are off the beaten
path and get the visitor even further away from
home. Bonaire was included in the line-up as
such place. It highlighted the diving, snorkeling
and eco-adventure activities offered and gave
basic information about the destination.
Columbus Dispatch (circulation
373,694)
The November 30 travel section of the Columbus
Dispatch included a story on finding villas
in the Caribbean and how they are considered
to be like a "home away from home."
Bonaire was referred to as a destination having
this product to offer. Sun Rentals was mentioned
as a rental agency offering excellent value,
their available rates and options and some of
the benefits of renting a villa through them.
St. Louis Post Dispatch (circulation
468,211)
The December 7 travel section of the St. Louis
Post Dispatch includes Bonaire as one of the
gems of the Caribbean describing it as the "Unexpected
Island." The writer speaks of Bonaire as
being off the radar screen and that it delivers
a quieter, more authentic Caribbean experience.
Black Meetings & Tourism
(circulation 28,000)
The November 2003 issue of Black Meetings &
Tourism highlights Bonaire in its Area Guides
section. Extensive background information about
the island is offered along with the properties
that have facilities for small to medium size
conferences. Harbour Village Beach Club, The
Plaza Resort Bonaire, and Captain Don’s Habitat
are mentioned.
Rodale's Scuba Diving (circulation
194,826)
The January/February 2004 Issue of Rodale's
Scuba Diving featured Bonaire in its Travel/Dive
Guide section. Bonaire’s own naturalist, Jerry
Ligon, takes front and center in the extensive
story about Bonaire and its many wonders and
the communities of fish, coral and other of
its underwater friends.
Sport Diver (circulation 220,000)
The January/February 2004 issue of Sport Diver
includes Bonaire in its 2004 World Dive Guide.
An extensive piece highlights five dive sites
such as the Town Pier, Forest, the Hilma Hooker,
1,000 Steps and Red Slave as "Must Sees"
and the Washington Slagbaai National Park as
a "Must Do."
Travel Weekly (circulation
47,784)
The December 8 issue of Travel Weekly highlights
the Eighth Annual Bonaire Dive Festival in its
Caribbean section. Details of the newly-organized
dive festival, from the extension to two weeks
to available packages and contact information,
are provided. Additionally, the dive festival
website is listed.
Globe and Mail, ON, Canada
(circulation 368,857)
The November 1 issue of Globe and Mail describes
Bonaire as one of the top dive destinations
in the Caribbean that benefits from seasonal
travel specialists. Bon Bini Divers package
is mentioned as a well-priced diving deal.
Houston Chronicle (circulation
739,389)
The November 9 travel section of the Houston
Chronicle lists Bonaire in the article about
good deals being offered in the Caribbean. It
also mentions how visitor numbers have increased
for many destinations and that Bonaire is one
of the islands where tourism arrivals are on
the rise.
Wilmington News Journal (online)
The October 26 online travel section of the
Wilmington News Journal includes Bonaire as
one of the ideal islands in the Caribbean for
people looking for "non-touristy"
destinations with low-rise properties and small
boutique style accommodations. The Grenadines,
Antigua & Barbuda, and Tobago are also highlighted
in the placement.
Kiplinger.com (online)
The November 1 online travel section of Kipplinger.com
is about Caribbean islands that are laid back
with little or no crowds. Bonaire is listed
and described as the premier dive and snorkel
destination and known for its rainbow-colored
beaches and wide range of accommodations. Also
highlighted were Anguilla, the Grenadines and
Tobago.
Caribbean Compass (online)
The November 7 online travel section of Caribbean
Compass spoke in great length about the Regatta
which took place from October 5-11. It credits
the event’s organizers and all participants
and states the event had a "real Bonairean
flavor."
CNN Money (online)
The November 10 online travel section of CNN
Money spoke about islands that are off the beaten
path and get the visitor even further away from
home. Bonaire was included in the line up as
such place. It highlighted the diving, snorkeling
and eco-adventure activities offered and gave
basic information about the destination.
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| BONAIRE
PROMOTED IN SPORTS
Once again the island was promoted among the
tennis segment during the year end tournament
at the San Luis Tennis Center. The event lasted
two weekends on December 5,6,7, and 13,14th and
drew 60 players from different tennis clubs with
singles men and women. Bonaire participated in
the 4th and 5th categories, and was promoted along
with Margarita Island, exhibiting full color banners
in the tennis court and with an information/promotion
desk located where the players could visit and
pick up a Bonaire bag, courtesy of TCB, who was
co-sponsoring the event. As a pleasant surprise,
the winning champion in the 5th category was our
own colleague ,Yasmin Pérez, from TCB.
It's important to highlight that TCB has been
promoting Bonaire to this segment with excellent
results and we’ll continue this strategy.
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2004 VENEZUELA HOLIDAY
SEASONS (PUENTES)
-
Carnival Feb 21st-24th
-
Easter Week April 8th-11th
-
Independence Day April 17th-19th
-
Labor Day May 1st
-
Battle of Carabobo June 24th-27th
-
Independence Act July 3rd-5th
-
Simon Bolivar’s Day July
24th-27th
-
Summer Vacation August-September
-
Christmas Season Dec 24
This dates are important to know for availability
of the properties. Additionally, hotels along
with the tour operators can promote attractive
packages in this market.
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UPCOMING
EVENTS
Anato Trade Show, Bogotá
This important trade show will be held Feb 23rd-25th
, 2004. For more information, visit www.anato.com.co.
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NEWS
FROM THE TOURISM SECTOR
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CALENDAR
OF EVENTS
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Carnival Adult
Parade Dates:
2004
- 2011 |
|
2004 - Feb 22
2005 - Feb 6
2006 - Feb 27
2007 - Feb 18
2008 - Feb 3
2009 - Feb 22
2010 - Feb 14
2011 - Mar 6
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(Carnival
Events are listed in Red)
Febuary 2004
TBA - International Fishing Tournament
Feb 1 -
Youth Tumba Festival Contest,
Kralendijk
Feb 7 - Rincon Market Day
Feb 13 -
Teener Parade
Feb 14 - Youth Parade Rincon
Feb 15 - Youth Parade Kralendijk
Feb 21 - Adult Parade, Rincon
Feb 22 - Adult Parade, Kralendijk
Feb 23 - Youth Farewell Parade
Feb 24- Grand Farewell Parade
with the burning of King Momo
Feb 25 - Ash Wednesday
March 2004
TBA - 5km Fun Run time
Mar 6 - Rincon Market Day
April 2004
Apr 1 - Simadan (Harvest) Festival
in Rincon
Apr 3 - Rincon Market Day
Apr 4 - Palm Sunday
Apr 9 - Good Friday. Banks and
shops closed.
TBA - 15th Karels Beach Bar Sailing
Competition
Apr 11 - Easter Sunday
Apr 12 - Easter Monday. Banks
and shops closed.
Apr 15 - 22 Dive into Earth Week
(Day) - check with your hotel
or dive shop for activities including
beach and underwater cleanups
Apr 30 - Rincon Day
Apr 30 - Queen Birthday
Apr 30 - Windsurfing Race
Apr 30 - 5 km / 17 km MCB Run
Apr 30 - Road Race 70km Bonaire
Cycle Club
Every Tuesday Night
@ 6:30pm -
BonaireTalker Dinner/Gathering at
Gibi's Terrace, call Jake at 717-6773
or email jake@bonairetalk.com
Click here for a detailed CALENDAR
OF EVENTS
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