NEWS FROM THE TOURISM SECTOR

From the Director's Desk I know this is a ‘hot topic” and many folks have been waiting to hear updates about the tax issue. The many points brought forward by our partners are being incorporated into the new structure and you can be kept up to date by logging on to http://www.infobonaire.com/taxinfo.html, where we will post the most up to date information. I would like to congratulate the organizers of the Bonaire Heineken Jazz Festival. The event was well attended by jazz lovers and created a true jazz ambience on our island. A lot of local talent was showcased and we are looking forward to next year’s Third Bonaire Heineken Jazz Festival! My compliments to the organizers! It is not an easy task, but they do a tremendous job in organizing such a huge event for Bonaire--an event that poses a lot of potential for the island. This month we are hosting the first edition of Dive Into Adventure Bonaire. Residents are also invited to participate in the programs. They can stop by the TCB office for more information on fees, sign-up forms, etc., or contact Rico Martis via 717-8322 for more information. We are quite pleased with the way the event has come together and are anticipating a lot of positive results. The program kicks off with the ever-popular Taste of Bonaire on June 18th starting at 6pm in the Wilhelmina Park. Another open event will take place on the Wednesday of the DIAB week, “It’s a Knockout” promises to be a spectacular event, and is something never seen before in Bonaire. Come and witness this for yourself in the Stadium at Playa. It is a night whereby our DIAB participants will be competing against each other, with reinforcement of some well-known local faces in the community. Through a selection of fun games focusing on our culture and traditions, visitors will learn about our habits and will mingle with our locals. Another highlight of the DIAB will also be the photo contest. Over $2000 in prizes will be awarded to the winners at the end of the week. A big thank you to Tim from Fish-Eye Photo for the wonderful help in setting this up. TCB is excited to be embarking on this new project, DIAB, and looks forward to hosting the participants, international speakers and press on island for this event. For more information on Dive Into Adventure Bonaire visit www.DiveIntoAdventureBonaire.com. Last month TCB gave a presentation to the public on the results of a recently completed marketing research conducted in our main markets. We passed on a lot of useful information. The research is one of the steps undertaken as part of preparations for development of marketing plans for the coming years, which will include various innovations. Thank you to those that were present and be pending for further developments on this front. TCB is also making arrangements for the 10th consecutive year to host the Hello Tourist Program. Any questions on this matter can be directed to project coordinator, Joanny Sint Jago. I kindly ask you for your cooperation if requested. Hello Tourist has proven to be a great addition in fostering tourism awareness among our youth throughout the years. It is very important for TCB to recognize the many restaurants, businesses and individuals who are always willing to sponsor our efforts by providing meals, time, goods, etc. to our programs. It really is a team effort to make our tourism product viable and attractive to visitors. Thank you all for what you have done to make our job a pleasure to do!! Back to the top New Bonaire Ambassadors AWARDED GOLD:  Pat and Hank Twenty years ago, Pat and Hank came to Bonaire after reading an article in Skin Diver Magazine. They met a gray-haired snorkeler, who was taking underwater photos with a Nikon camera. They asked the gentlemen if he had been to Bonaire before. His reply was, "I’ve been here seven times." Pat and Hank wondered in their own minds why anyone would want to come back to the same island so many times. Their trips to Bonaire have been very rewarding, due to the excellent weather outstanding marine life, great diving, simple, relaxed lifestyle and above all the friendly, Bonairean people. They look forward to returning every year, and meeting their friends from other states and countries. For the past twenty-two years, they have stayed at Captain Don’s, Buddy Dive, Sunset Beach, Harbour Village, Belafonte, Great Escape Divi, and Bel Air. Now thirty years later, Hank has the gray hair, Nikon camera, and the reasons for returning more than seven times. The friendships that they have developed over the years are invaluable. Their hearts and souls will always be a part of our special island. Thanks you so much. They have three children who also love Bonaire. Two of their children are divers like their dad. Their other child is snorkeler like her mom. They now look forward to bringing their grandchild to Bonaire. For all the years that they are come to Bonaire, Pat and Hank receive the Gold medal Congratulations, Ambassadors!   AWARDED GOLD:  Dave Katz, Holland TCB would like to congratulate "Uncle Dave" as a gold ambassador for the 20+ years he has been coming to Bonaire. Mr. Dave Katz better known to us as ‘Uncle Dave’ is someone who will come to Bonaire with lots of kilograms of excess baggage and somehow he will get it on the KLM flight from Holland to Bonaire for next to nothing! 95% of it is things he brings for all his friends who live on Bonaire. Herring, salmon, asperges, drop, software and magazines are some of the stuff he managed to get on the plane. He could probably bring a car as excess baggage! He just hasn’t figure out how to pack it yet. They say home is where the heart is. For Dave this is Bonaire. He loves the island and the lifestyle, so much that he tried to get his son to move here so that he could have yet another reason to visit more often! He already visits the island several times a year and always brings an entourage with him. Dave has introduced Bonaire to many of his Dutch friends who in turn have adopted Bonaire as their island retreat. Every year, he celebrates his birthday on Bonaire, for Uncle Dave, it’s the only reason to celebrate his birthday….being amongst his friends in the place he considers his nirvana….Bonaire. It is a pleasure for Tourism Corporation Bonaire to recognize Mr. Dave Katz as a Bonaire Ambassador. We thank you for your visits, the love you share for the island and are happy to see you for many years.     AWARDED GOLD:  Renate & Roland Kraft For 23 years, Renate and Roland Kraft have been scuba diving and taking underwater pictures in nearly all the oceans of the world. Roland is the photographer and Renate is the underwater model. It is their specialty to use only “Xenon”-lamplight to illuminate the underwater world. Using that type of light produces a better effect on the main subject. Four times they won first prize in the underwater photo competition of the scuba magazine, “Tauchen”, one of the largest competitions in Europe. They have also won a number of other prizes in that competition. Meanwhile, they have an archive of about 20,000 underwater slides. Renate mixes underwater pictures with land photos. Her objective was to catch the viewers’ attention through this unusual combination of pictures. By putting a frame around it, she wanted to extend the effect while, at the same time, make it clear that it is not an original photo. So far she has created more than 60 unique underwater collages. All of them can be seen on www.photo-kraft.de. Thank you for your numerous visits to Bonaire and thank you for capturing the beauty of our underwater and land sceneries and enabling others to enjoy the view.   AWARDED SILVER:  The Graham Family Congratulations to the Grahams!! TCB would like to congratulate Mr. David and his two sons, Zachary and Taylor, with their silver ambassador medals from the island of Bonaire. Dr. Graham, his wife, and two sons started traveling with the US Scuba Center Group 17 years ago. Then their third son, Taylor, was born. Taylor was 6 months old on his first trip to Bonaire. So it is Taylor’s 15th consecutive year traveling to Bonaire. They love the friendly people of Bonaire, the tranquility and the spectacular diving. The three Graham children have always referred to the Flamingo Beach as their “Bonaire Home” because they love the swimming pools and the friendly Flamingo Beach staff. Everyone in the Graham family scuba dives. They know that the best diving in the Caribbean is in Bonaire. It is a pleasure to honor the Graham family with the Silver Ambassador medal. We hope to see them back year after year. Congratulations and thank you! AWARDED SILVER:  Pat Roman and Michele Hutchison Pat Roman and Michele Hutchison have been visiting the island for years and have been recently honored as Bonaire Ambassadors. Over the many years of traveling to Bonaire, they enjoy sharing the love for the island with both their diving and non-diving friends. According to Pat and Michele, after a week the reactions from visitors are all the same, “this place really grows on you, I haven’t felt this relaxed in years”, is what they hear and what they share. Their dive travels have taken them to many destinations in the world including Papua New Guinea, Fiji and the islands of Micronesia, but they always returned to Bonaire and Divi Flamingo, their home in Bonaire. Bonaire is their favorite spot in the Caribbean. In 2003, Pat reached a dive milestone and logged her 1000th dive on Klein Bonaire. Pat and Michele say that when they think of Bonaire, it is all superb. It is a pleasure for Tourism Corporation Bonaire to recognize Pat and Irwin as Bonaire Ambassadors. We thank them for their visits and great comments about Bonaire. Congratulations and Thank you! AWARDED BRONZE:  James & Helen Farmer,  Bill & JoAnne Champagne, and Stan & Betsy Pash Stan and Betsy tell us: " We came to Bonaire in 1997--the year we got married. Stan was a long time diver, but I had just gotten certified. After diving in the cold lakes in Michigan, the warm waters in Bonaire were a welcome change. The ability to do shore dives and explore at will is a big draw for us. Every year we find new things and have new stories to tell. "The Black Durgon is the place we stay every year. It is a small hotel with a very friendly, homely atmosphere. Over the years we have made many friends at the Durgon. Now many of us coordinate our trips so that we’ll be there at the same time. "Over the last 10 years we’ve seen many changes in Bonaire. As the island becomes more popular, it is easier to get here. More airlines provide service to the island. There are more good restaurants from which to choose. We used to love seeing the donkeys wander the island freely. Now that they are cared for in a sanctuary, we miss them. "Bonaire is the kind of place where we try to have longer and longer vacations. When we retire, we will measure our Bonaire time in months instead of weeks." Congratulations, Stan and Betsy, with your bronze medals. AWARDED BRONZE:  John and Mary Gallagher, Maine, USA John and Mary Gallagher made their first trip to Bonaire in 1995.  They enjoyed the island so much that they returned each year, first bringing their children, then other family members, and continued coming to Bonaire year after year with many of their family and friends.  This most recent trip in April saw them here with a group of 8 people; three of the group celebrated their birthdays here on Bonaire!   We understand that they mark down their holiday to Bonaire on the calendar, and cross off the days until it is time for them to return again.  I wonder if diving in the nice, refreshing water in Maine might have something to do with it!  Over the years, John & Mary have introduced a lot of new people to Bonaire.  Sand Dollar Resort is delighted to have such great Ambassadors for our island.  We look forward to their return.    AWARDED BRONZE:  Ed & Joan, New Jersey, Larry and Dee, North Carolina, Neil and Sandra, United Kingdom From left to right: Ambassadors Ed and Joan from New Jersey, Rian (Sorobon Beach), ambassadors Larry and Dee from North Carolina, Joanny(TCB), and ambassadors Neil and Sandra from the United Kingdom. They all celebrated their tenth visit to Bonaire at Sorobon Beach this year. The party met ten years ago at the resort and became friends since then. They decided to visit Bonaire on a yearly basis at the same time, in April, and stay at Sorobon each year. They have even made yellow t-shirts with the words “Sorobon Reunion” and the various years on it. It has become a tradition for them to wear them when they are having their daily game of petanque (bolas) and happy hour drinks at the bar of Sorobon, afterwards. Ed and Larry are divers, the ladies enjoy the beach, and Neil and Ed are also fanatic kiters and bring a new spectacular kite every year. They leave the kites when their vacation is over to the children of one of the employees of Sorobon. Ed, Joan, Larry, Dee, Neil and Sandra all have been honored with the Bronze Ambassador medal for the past ten years that they have been visiting our island. For TCB, it is an honor to be able to present them this special token of appreciation. We thank them for visiting us and hope to see them back in Bonaire year after year. Congratulations!   AWARDED BRONZE:  Thomas & Sally Thomas and Sally have been coming to Bonaire for 10 years. They are from Kentucky and traveled through Houston down to Kralendijk. They are in love with Bonaire, as they say,“It’s a different kind of vacation because it’s laid-back, with limited development, with never a need to fight traffic, with no traffic lights, and with very natural and total diving freedom. Bonaire is like a second home for Thomas and Sally. They like to come at least once or twice a year to relax and sometimes come with their family or friends on a dive trip. They have met some people on the island traveling from other countries with similar interests as they have and have built good relationships with them over the years. According to them: “Bonaire gets in your blood; there is something addictive in the water.” They called their first boat “Karpata” and will call their current sailboat “Bonaire.” Thomas and Sally always take their time to explain the beauty and all other information about Bonaire to people. Thomas and Sally have been staying in lots of places on the island and have noticed an improvement in restaurants and the service in general. The last three years they have been staying at Belmar and would like to say “danki” to all employees at Belmar and especially to Henriette from the reservation office. They also want to thank the Toucan Dive crew for their personal treatment. They hope the island stays just the way it is!!!! Throughout their 10 year visits, the highlights were meeting Captain Don Stewart and seeing some dolphins. For them this was the best trip in 10 years!!! It is a pleasure for Tourism Corporation Bonaire to recognize Thomas and Sally as Bonaire Ambassadors. We thank them for their visits, the love they share for the island and are happy to see them year after year. Congratulations and thank you!   To see more of Bonaire's Bronze, Silver, or Gold Ambassadors, visit http://www.bonaireambassador.com! Back to the top