 Entre Nous is the monthly newsletter from the Tourism Corporation Bonaire (TCB), Netherlands Antilles. In this newsletter you will find the accomplishments of TCB in Bonaire, North America, South America and Europe as well as the newest developments within the tourism industry. We hope that you will read it with pleasure and if you have something that you think is relevant for the tourism sector to know just fax it to 717-8408 or e-mail to: info@tourismbonaire.com.
During this year's CTC (Caribbean Tourism Conference) Bonaire held a press conference (last Sat), where the focus was on Bonaire's development and the new airlift starting as of Dec (Newark) and the new Divi project. We will be delivering more info on all our comings and goings in the next editions of Entre Nous Of note this past Wed, Oct 18th TCB celebrated 15yrs of service for Evelain and Joanny, 12 yrs of service for Rolando and 10 yrs for Robert.. A small celebration took place at Donna and Giorgios, with words from Ronella , Gabriella – being an ex-colleague also, Evert Piar, who was also active at TCB and the Commissioner of tourism. Each colleauge was given a gift presented by the Board members who were present. Furthermore Minister el Hage also attended the celebration, as a former member of the TCB team, and of course all proud families were present. I wish them all continued strength and happiness in their jobs and hope to be celebrating 50 yrs. at TCB! I want to thank them for their dedication and support. The month of October had another special surprise for the TCB team. They joined Ronella for a retreat, especially organized for them during the weekend of Oct 27-29. The focus of the retreat was to refresh the importance of teambuilding, through educational sessions and through fun activities. It will also highlight the importance of the TCB team in the envisioned growth for Bonaire and in the upcoming TAP (Tourism Awareness Program), where they need to act as ambassadors of Bonaire's tourism and Bonaire's tourism developments. The team was surprised during this weekend since they have only been asked to present to work on Friday, Oct 27th with suitcases and passports. They were delighted to be embarking on DAE to Aruba and returning to Bonaire on the Freewinds. Part of the retreat focused on comparing the Aruba product with the Bonaire’s - weaknesses and strengths - through fun games, a tour on Aruba and Bonaire and educational sessions. I hope that the TCB team is ready for the beginning of the Tourism Awareness program and to provide their support in the interesting phases Bonaire will be going through. The Wounded Warrior project was a complete success and the warriors and delegation enjoyed their stay and particularly their diving. I want to thank TCB New York and all other local and international organizations involved in this fantastic initiative for their support and for making this a success. We are working to make it an annual event and it presents new opportunities for Bonaire, where the destination can be positioned as an ideal destination for scuba divers with disabilities.. Arke Fly will be starting its flights on Nov 4th. The carrier will be bringing a group of press to the island and will be hosting a press conference and reception to introduce the Arke team and celebrate the new flight. TCB thanks Arke for their support and for incorporating Bonaire in their itinerary. Of course TCB will cooperate to the extent possible to make these flights a success.
Bonaire and its talented kids Taty and Tonky Frans star in the international windsurf DVD ‘WildBirds’. This DVD brings together the best of the best in international freestyle windsurfing. The DVD was filmed at the number one spots all over the world. Since Bonaire has great riders and that great opportunities to windsurf, no wonder our island stars in this project. TCB Europe managed to get the crew of WildBirds to Bonaire when hiring them for the BonaireBattle-project. This DVD is once again one of the great spin-offs to be used in integrated marketing. You can see the DVD at TCB’s office on Kaya Grandi or order your own copy at http://www.spaako.com/wildbirds.
Treasure Island is the name of the new viral campaign TCB Europe rolled out in Europe. In close collaboration with casual game house LunaNL, this campaign will enable TCB Europe to further enlarge its e-database for e-marketing activities. In Treasure Island the player is challenged to find and bring in the pearls… Surf to http://www.visitbonaire.tv/treasureisland at see for yourself. The Dutch version is named Schateiland: http://www.visitbonaire.tv/schateiland. Don’t forget to tell and e-mail all your friends. Dutch trade informed and challenged by TCB Europe This fall once again various trade training days are planned. October 24 CTO Holland organized a training day for over 35 travel agents at Schiphol Airport. Bonaire joined others like Kuoni and Caribbean Reflections in informing and challenging the travel agents on our product. Marieke Raaff gave an enthusiastic presentation combined with new video releases. The lucky travel agents were given in preview of the new BonaireVisits.tv. November 16 the new airline Arkefly and tour operator Arke will host a Arke-only training day informing travel agents on their new destination Bonaire and the new connection every Saturday starting at the end of November. BonaireVisits brings preview of this winters line up
Bonaire welcomed the Wounded Warriors with open arms During October 14-21, five severely wounded US Soldiers and one Marine officially became certified divers in Bonaire’s marine park. The six men, known as the Wounded Warriors, spent the week in Bonaire with their loved ones, compliments of Jack Chalk and Captain Don’s Habitat and thanks to an enormous collection of caring individuals. In next month’s issue of Entre Nous the Wounded Warrior’s Photo Gallery will be launched as a tribute to all those wonderful Bonaireans and friends of Bonaire who made this experience for them so memorable. The list is endless of whom to thank and as we did not want to leave anyone out …we will let the photos in the gallery tell the story. Wounded Warriors… to be continued…
The final countdown to DEMA is on! Update #3 All of Bonaire’s exhibitors will receive custom designed Bonaire Dive Post Cards to give out freely to the attendees at DEMA. Five different images were used, with the message reminding people about Continental Airline’s new service from Newark, NJ and about Bonaire’s participation in the upcoming Scuba Tour line-up for 2007. (click on one of the images to view enlarged version - will open in new window)
One of the DEMA Sponsored Seminars, “Maximizing the Benefits of DEMA’s Scuba Tour Media Coverage” will be conducted by Candice Kimmel, the owner and president of Bonaire’s representative firm in the US. The spotlight session will be held at 2:30pm on November 10. As a recognized media expert, Ms. Kimmel will cover the many ways the dive retailer can benefit from the extensive media coverage generated by the Scuba Tour. During the seminar, the full program for Scuba Tour 2007 will be unveiled, including Bonaire’s Gold Destination Sponsorship and pre-show breakfasts for area dive shops at each stop of the Tour. Mr. John Lovette of Lake Placid, Florida, was the grand prizewinner of last year’s Bonaire online sweepstakes that ran in Caribbean Travel & Life magazine. He and his wife enjoyed the island and Plaza Resort Bonaire so much that he told us so! Dear All: Thank you CT&L for a wonderful week in Bonaire. It is such a beautiful place. Plaza Resort Bonaire could not have been a better place to enjoy the water and beach. Their staff was so wonderful. Our room was fantastic! We could watch the sunsets from our patio, but chose to sit on the beach next to our room. Thank you again. The attached picture is one my wife took of me standing in front of the entrance to the Resort. Of course, I had to have my favorite travel magazine with me on our trip! Kind regards, John H. Lovelette
As part of the ongoing press release program, Adams Unlimited researches, writes and prepares a steady stream of releases for mailings to the media for applicable editorial coverage based on editorial calendars and the need to disseminate timely news. In October one press release was written and distributed. The release was written specifically for CTC-29 and highlighted hotel and airline news. It was available to media attending Bonaire's press briefing on October 21 and was posted on a special "CTC-29 Media Day” section on the CTO website for CTC. David Fishman and Ethan Gordon from Fathoms magazine were in Bonaire on October 10 - 16, during coral spawning, to gather information about that phenomenon and more. Their findings will be used for a number of articles to be written about Bonaire, which will be published in the coming months. Endless Vacation Magazine (circulation 1,554,389) Daily News (circulation 835,121) Vancouver (BC) Sun (circulation 211,460) Cosmopolitan En Español (circulation 62,630)
Venezuelans in the 6th Annual Bonaire EcoSwim An important group of athletes (almost 40), participated successfully in the event that took place on island on Saturday, October 21st and a lot of them were in the prizes. The group stayed at Eden Beach. More information about the results of the six races offered this year by Ecoswin will be available soon at www.randynutt.com. Volare of Venezuela, the Overall Winner in the Regatta! This year the 39th edition of the Bonaire Sailing Regatta was dedicated to Mr. Thomas Pollehne, who raced in Bonaire for the first time in 1981 and who kept returning time and time again. As a pleasant surprise The Volare of Captain Thomas Pollehne was the overall winner this year. The Venezuelan won Racing I, Round Bonaire Overall, Overall Racing I & II, crossed the line first in the Round Bonaire Race. He did it in 7 hours and 17 minutes, two minutes more than the 2001 record, which stands at 7 hours and 15 minutes. In Optimist A, also the Venezuelan sailor Ricardo Martos won first place. The participants were very happy with the results of the competition planning to come back next year for the 40th Anniversary of the Bonaire Regatta.More and more diving groups from Venezuela – October 12th On October 11th to the 15th (Columbus Day), Bonaire hosted more than one hundred divers coming from different diving schools from Caracas, Venezuela who selected Bonaire to enjoy the last long weekend of the year. The diving schools were Epsilon Dive (24 in Habitat), Subacqua (46 in Sand Dollar), Orca’s Dive (27 in Plaza Resort) and ChiDivers (15 in Hamlet). Almost all came in charter flights, enjoying the easy and pristine diving, restaurants and shopping. The groups returning very happy, planning new travel dates to Bonaire … Carnival 2007.FITCAR Venezuelan trade show 2006
Brazilian groups keep coming to Bonaire Along the year the island has been hosting many groups. On November 01st to the 08th Port Bonaire, Nov 11th to the 18th Plaza Resort and Dec 30th to Jan 06th Belmar … almost a total of 80 divers. Yes, keep coming! Approaching again the Brazilian market Oct 05-10 Definitely TCB and the properties keep advancing promoting Bonaire in the diving market of Brazil. The recent visit to Sao Paulo Boat Show on October 05th to the 10th not only permitted us to get in contact again with the tour operators and their diving schools but also to schedule new groups coming to Bonaire early 2007. At this moment, Bonaire is being requested a lot by the Brazilian divers due to the improvement of the airlift (connecting the same day to the island), competitive packages by the properties, permanent promotion in specialized diving magazines, support to tour operators and diveshops and also because Bonaire is a top diving destination well known in Brazil. The hotels are aware about the potential of the market, in this occasion Martien Van der Valk from Buddy Dive, Belmar and Caribbean Club came with the Bonaire Delegation to experience it directly.
At the 8 mts Bonaire booth, visitors who had heard about the island were attended and given more information with a flyer in Portuguese with the programs of different properties. Many came also to greet us and to talk about their wonderful diving experience. Hotels mentioned Plaza, Buddy Dive, Bonaire Ocean Front, Sand Dollar, Coco Palm, Divi and many still remember Sunset. At the booth we were accompanied by the local tour operators promoting with their flyers their different options in accommodation, very effective since they were selling the programs.
Contacting the Colombian diving market – Oct 12-13 During our return from Sao Paulo via Bogotá with Avianca, we made a strategic stopover in Colombia to meet with the tour operators and diving schools in Bogotá and Medellin. This time, the Bonaire presentation in Bogotá took place in Cielos Abiertos headquarters. The tour operator in co op with TCB extended an invitation to the diving segment to meet all again having Buddy Dive and Sunrentals representatives present in the event. The meeting was very successful with the diveshops exchanging with them a lot of information about programs of the hotels, best connecting flights to the island, visa procedure requested for the Colombian visitors, issue which was highlighted by Cielos Abiertos offering them packages to Bonaire including the Visa service when travelling in groups. It was good news for them to count now with Cielos Abiertos attending their requests at the Dutch Embassy. Medellin was visited in one day. We met with key diving groups operating in Medellin and Cali and with Maria José Ospina, Director of the Agenda del Mar, famous organization in Colombia for its ocean preservation and environment projects. All of them were very pleased having a Bonaire delegation visiting them for the first time, receiving all the information about how to get to Bonaire and the different options in accommodations on island. Also, the visa procedure that now is being offered by Cielos Abiertos with offices in all Colombia. It’s important to highlight Cielos Abiertos has a specialized diving department attending requests to different top diving destinations. Cuba is the most popular at the moment due to its charter flights operation.Avavit Nov 15th to the 16th - Venezuela, Caracas Qta La Esmeralda;
December, 2006 Dec 1 - Bari Festival Period
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It is a busy time of the year for the TCB offices. Having just finished our annual marketing meetings, it is now show time and we all have been attending various trade shows and conferences all over the globe. 
The line up of next winters BonaireVisits.tv looks quite promising. Building our way up to the smashing releases of exciting videos around Christmas. In mid November the first new celebrity will be presented at BonaireVisits.tv. Peer Mascini is this Dutch Celeb. He is known for his acting performances in quite a lot of Dutch movies. But also Peer is one of the most famous comic actors, which he among other became by starring in the Melkunie-commercials (‘Geen bommetje’). A preview of the new videos is to be seen at 
On Saturday, October 21, Bonaire participated in the Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC-29) press-briefing day. Ronella Croes and Candice Kimmel represented Bonaire and discussed such topics as the Divi Resorts new hotel project, the soon-to-be-launched Continental Airline service from Newark, NJ and other newsworthy items. Press materials were prepared and available to media attending the event. The new Bonaire Destination dvds were also distributed. Bonaire's press briefing took place from 10:00am to 10:20am and approximately fifty-six international media attended. CTC-29 took place October 22-25 in The Bahamas.
In October two issues of Bonaire EZ News were distributed to our database of consumers and travel agents. The October 11 issue focused on hotel packages for fall and winter 2006/2007, while the October 23 issue focused on island and hotel news and upcoming events.
On October 04th to the 08th, was carried out the second Caracas International tourism trade show at La Carlota Airport. The Bonaire booth courtesy of Fitcar, was located between Cuba and Bolivia showing the Bonaire video permanently in a Caribbean atmosphere. It was visited by final consumers requesting information and promotional material from the island. During four days from 10am to 10pm, the Bonaire brochures in Spanish was given to the visitors with the hotel programs and all about how to get to Bonaire with the flights of DAE and Transaven.
Palestra do Bonaire