J. v.d. S., who was detained on Wednesday November 21, on the suspicion of manslaughter against Natalee Holloway, was brought before a judge of instruction to be heard on the judge's detention order. Simultaneously he was heard on the Public Prosecutor's request to prolong his detention with another eight days.

The judge has heard V.d. S., who was represented by his lawyer, and decided that his detention could be prolonged for eight more days, counting from Thursday 29th November. V.d. S.'s lawyer opposed his client's arrest, his subsequent custody and the prolongation of that custody. He asked for the immediate release of his client which was denied by the judge.

The Public Prosecutor's Office considers the judge's decision a support for its own thesis that sufficient new evidence has been put forward to even prolong the suspect's detention.

The investigation will be continued during the days to come. Ultimately on Thursday November 29th the Public Prosecutor will decide whether to ask the Judge for a prolongation of the detention of the two brothers K. with another eight days.

In the case against J.v.d.S. ultimately December 7th a decision has to be taken about further prolongation of his detention.

Download the Official Press Release here:
http://www.aruba.com/download/NHprsrls112707.pdf

Over 200 Managers, DSMs & Liberty Travel Execs in Aruba December 3-6, 2007

Aruba Beats Bevy of Destinations to Host Travel Giant’s Most Prestigious Internal
Event Boasting Informational Conferences, Site Inspections, Parties & More!

On December 3, 2007, Aruba will welcome the prestigious annual Liberty Travel Managers Conference. This significant event brings together over 200 Liberty Travel store managers, district store managers (DSMs) and senior company executives for three days of informational conferences, site inspections, hotel and resort presentations, cocktail parties, gala dinners and more. It is fitting that this will be the first time Aruba hosts the conference, having beat a number of other destinations in contention, as the island is enjoying an impressive 30% growth in Liberty Travel business. With a string of significant hotel and resort developments and renovations, new and additional airlift, strong visitor arrival numbers and over $350 million in investments in the tourism industry, Aruba is proud to welcome these important decision-makers to discover “what’s new” on the island.

As the largest seller of vacations to the island, Aruba is thrilled to have the opportunity to show Liberty Travel managers how it has grown as a top Caribbean vacation destination for couples, families and travelers of all types. During the three-day event, travel professionals on hand will get to experience Aruba beyond the conference room, as they enjoy dinners, beach and pool parties, jeep safaris through the Aruban countryside, golfing on oceanfront greens and much more.

The Liberty Travel Managers Conference will take place at the Westin Aruba Resort, with additional evening activities provided by the Occidental Grand Aruba, the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino, the Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Casino, and transportation and excursions handled by De Palm Tours. The Aruba Tourism Authority and the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association will co-sponsor a gala dinner on Renaissance Island, part of the Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino, as the culmination of the conference.

“Aruba is pleased to welcome the Liberty Managers Conference to the island for the first time,” said Edison Briesen, Minister of Tourism and Transportation. “We are honored to have been chosen as the host for this event and greatly value Liberty Travel’s expertise in the industry as they have long been travel pioneers. We are confident that hosting the Managers Conference will reinforce what Liberty Travel has known for over three decades: that Aruba offers a travel experience unlike any other Caribbean destination, one that keeps travelers coming back year after year.”

Myrna Jansen, Managing Director of the Aruba Tourism Authority, added, “Aruba was one of the first international destinations offered by Liberty Travel in the 1970s. Now, with remarkable island-wide renovations and substantial investments in tourism it is the ideal time to welcome our colleagues at Liberty Travel. This is an opportunity to showcase the destination to Liberty Travel’s true decision makers, the store managers, who control the selling direction of their business.”

“Liberty Travel has a longer association with Aruba than any other U.S. travel company, the island is one of our best selling Caribbean destinations and a longtime favorite with our customers,” said Cathy Pelaez, Chief Operating Officer for Liberty Travel. “It made perfect sense to have this year’s Managers Conference on the island as it gives our top level sales force the opportunity to experience the destination and the many significant upgrades to its tourism product and see first-hand what Aruba can offer our clients.”

With great pride the Aruba Bucuti Beach Resort announces their BLUE Award from Island’s Magazine in the December 2007 issue dedicated to Sustainable Tourism and the award winners.

Islands Magazine is the global authority on island destinations and has been in existence for 26 years. A partner with MSNBC, millions read ISLANDS articles and reviews in their award winning print magazine, on-line magazine and via MSNBC.

Island’s Magazine Editorial Director, Ty Sawyer explains the meaning of the award in these excerpts from the magazine: “Local advocates and ISLANDS readers have noticed, and they are voicing their opinions in the way they travel and where they travel. It’s no longer a fringe group that wants to save the planet. Its become a worldwide phenomenon borne of the necessity to save and sustain all those cultures and places that make the world and incredible place to experience. So we here at ISLANDS decided to celebrate, support and honor the places and people who are so important to islands travel, those who have taken up the challenge to make responsible and sustainable tourism practices a vital part of the way they do business and, more importantly, the way they live. To celebrate these incredible and on-going achievements, we’ve put together our inaugural BLUE LIST and launched our ISLANDS Global Sustainable Tourism Awards, which we’ve dubbed THE BLUE AWARDS. The 100 people, places and things that made our list are the very best of the world of islands responsible tourism. They are models that are working. And, they are role models that should be followed and venerated. Congratulations to all our winners in each and every category. We’ve scoured the globe, and everyone on the pages of this issue is doing remarkable work. Support them. Celebrate them. And we at ISLANDS would like to thank them. Safe Travels. TY SAWYER, Editor

“We are very proud to be included on ISLANDS Blue List with this award. All of us at Bucuti are dedicated to sustainable practices and receive our inspiration daily from Bucuti’s owner, Ewald Biemans who has expressed his lifelong passion for nature and the environment by local activism, which was started by setting an example within our own resort.” states Biemans wife Susan “Sustainability is deeply woven into Bucuti’s company culture where all associates are participants from day one on the job.

We hope that this award will inspire more of our islands businesses and community members to participate in environmentally sustainable practices in order to protect and preserve our treasures for future generations.

During their graduation year, the students of the EPB, basic professional training high school, need to practice what they learned, while interacting with each other and clients in real-life restaurant situations. The Aloe Restaurant and its professional commercial kitchen is where these students train and invite the general public to enjoy a three-course lunch for only Afl. 20 per person, every Tuesday and Wednesday to work towards their diploma. Lunch is served every Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 1:30 p.m., until December 5, 2007 when they go on break for the holidays. The restaurant opens back on January 15, 2008 and closes April 9, at the end of the academic year.

In the kitchen, Chef Leest swings the spatula, while Miss Maria Kuiperi-Werleman coaches the front of the house staff.

Miss Kuiperi is definitely proud of her service class. I have a very diligent crew, she shares and adds that she regularly recommends her students to people looking for catering and service help.

Emony Wauben was our somewhat shy, very friendly waitress, who plans on continuing in the hospitality field, not in service though. She shares that she has always had a liking for baking and at home she likes to bake cakes and cookies. She does her own decorating as well, and aspires to continue her studies in Holland and becoming a pastry chef. Among Emony’s colleagues is Sylvienne Bislip, also working the room and although her goal is also to become a pastry chef, she wants to first earn her Associate Degree at EPI, Hospitality school and then go to Holland.

Chef Leest, with extensive experience in the food and beverage world, truly enjoys what he does now, working with the enthusiastic students. Among those who fed the crowd on “our” Tuesday were – all future EPI students: Sammy, who likes the hospitality industry but has not defined his direction yet; Dwight, who is planning on attending Florida International University (FIU); Haime and Marc who would like to attend college in Holland and Oscar, who aspires to attend FIU and major in Food and Beverage Management.

Together the service and kitchen teams delivered a great lunch of cream of mushroom soup, rib eye steak with sauce, Dutch style potatoes and glazed carrots, and fruit cake. It was a great pleasure to enjoy this opportunity to get a peak into these ambitious young people’s future and to actively contribute to their training as the island’s future hospitality professionals.

Their menu offers a nice trip around the world including Aruban, Italian, French, German and Dutch specialties, one meal at a time. The selection for each day is set – except dessert, which depends on what the pastry class is making - and readers interested in attending lunch at EPB can call Miss Kuiperi at tel. 582-9791, ext. 153 for the menu of the day they intend to go and to make reservations. The school request reservations be made four weekdays before the date, but – should this not be possible, contacting Miss Kuiperi to check seating availability is advisable.

The EPB is located across from the Aruba Aloe factory, the restaurant is at the front of the school, easily accessible and with ample parking.

“We ask everyone to be on time, since this is a pre-scheduled class and we request please cancel a day in advance should you not be able to attend,” the teachers request.

Source: The News

Fledgling Aruban filmmaker Ivo Tonk is a winner in the Belgium One Minute Film Festival

Established in 1989 by renowned Aruban artists Elvis Lopez and Evelino Fingal, Ateliers ‘89 opened opportunities for local talents to follow art workshops in different disciplines with international art teachers. This effort resulted in many young talents who went on to study arts abroad. After a long absence Elvis Lopez has brought Ateliers ‘89 back to life last year, offering interesting workshops to youngsters, giving them opportunities to discover and develop their artistic talents.

The intensive, four-day-a-week programs conducted in the evenings for a month, feature famed visiting artists from Holland and the States, as well as Aruban artists of international repute. Last summer, Dick Tuinder, (www.dicktuinder.com) a wonderful Dutch artist well- known for his multimedia work, conducted a workshop in filmmaking that produced a number of “one minute films” by several creative young Arubans, including fifteen-year-old Ivo Tonk.

Upon returning to Holland, Dick submitted the works to a number of festivals devoted to short films, and Ivo’s two productions, titled “ A Dark & Stormy Night” and “One Minute a Day Wasted” took second and third place, respectively, in the People’s Choice Awards at the One Minute Film Festival in Ghent, Belgium. The films produced by the Aruban students were very well received at festivals in Rotterdam and Utrecht, Holland, as well.

Ivo’s accomplishment was announced at the end of the festival, which took place from October 9-20. This past Friday morning he and his mother Myriam were special guests for a screening at the Ateliers ’89 for island press members, where Ivo was presented with congratulatory gifts of a new cell phone from Digicel mobile providers and a gift certificate from Checkpoint Color.

Ivo revealed that the films, which use stop-motion technique, were made that way simply by accident, as his video camera was not working properly and not producing sound. Stop-motion is an extremely difficult style of filmmaking, which requires shooting hundreds of single frames while moving objects minutely, and then combining them to produce motion in inanimate objects. The films that feature Wallace & Grommit are a good example of modern stop-motion work with clay figures. This is quite an ambitious undertaking, but out of necessity was born creativity, and Ivo used every day objects around his home and creative sound effects to produce two very entertaining and amusing works. They are quite an accomplishment for a first-time filmmaker, and earned him international recognition. His award-winning films can be viewed online at http://www.theoneminutesjr.org.

All the films produced by Dick’s students will be screened during the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing, China in 2008, and are being submitted to various film festivals around Europe. Elvis judged Dick Tuinder not only a fine artist, but also an excellent teacher, “who truly inspires young people, motivating them to exercise their imaginations.” Dick is returning to Aruba in two weeks to film a feature film about the island and the town of San Nicolas, where he exhibited a giant mural he had produced about the town two years ago.

Ivo Tonk reports that he was very much inspired by the workshop, and encouraged by the reception of his film to continue to explore an education in art and filmmaking. His proud mother and Ateliers ‘89 board member Gerda Faber joined him in celebrating his success.

Source: The News

Photo:
Gerda Faber, Myriam Tonk, Ivo Tonk with Elvis Lopez presenting Ivo the award.

Number of Convention Groups from Latin America Increased Enormously in 2007!

2007 promises to be a tremendous year for Aruba’s tourism industry. The Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) launched two new commercials for Latin America and the U.S. on both regional and national cable service. For many years, Aruba’s name has been greatly recognized worldwide and to ensure that the island benefits from this opportunity, the commercials highlighted the beauty and tourism qualities of Aruba in colorful and refreshing ways. All this, together with the amount of visitors, different hotel renovations and increase in airlift service, has once again placed Aruba in the top spot.

From January until July 2007, Aruba’s tourism showed a remarkable increase of 6.88% compared to the previous year. The numbers show an increase in the number of visitors, totaling more than 28,000 additional visitors year-to-date.

On the other hand, the Caribbean region showed a decrease of 2% between the months of January to July 2007.

North American Market:

The American market showed an increase of 4.17% from January to July 2007, which represents an additional 12,497 tourists. Both January and February enjoyed great increases of 6.52% and 6.13% respectively, followed by March which excelled with an increase of 10.15%. The summer months of June and July showed an increase of 9.26% and 2.61%. The American market’s increase year-to-date of 4.17% represents a total of 311,888 visitors compared to the 299,391 in 2006.

This is because, in addition to all the marketing efforts done by Aruba, the direct flight options to the island also grew. 2007 has also been a year where many of the hotel renovation projects were completed, increasing the number of available rooms and offering an even higher quality hotel product to its visitors.

The Northeast region of the U.S. remained the dominant region pertaining to the number of visitors from the U.S. through July 2007, with a higher amount of visitors arriving from New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts adding up to a total of 66,623, 40,899 and 41,611 for these markets.

Latin American Market:

According to ATA’s statistical reports, the markets that show a notable increase are Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil totaling to 14.82%, 17.19% and 23.76% for each market. So far this year, a total of 30,247 tourists from Venezuela visited Aruba compared to the 26,342 visitors in 2006. As for Colombia, there were 7,834 visitors compared to the 6,685 the previous year and from Brazil, a total of 4,349 tourists arrived compared to the 3,514 visitors in 2006.

Other noticeable and positive changes were increases in the following markets: Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Mexico, which experienced an increase of 20.32%, 38.97%, 39.13% and 70%, respectively.

After a few years of tourism promotion and investments, today Aruba has become a preferred destination for the Latin America MICE market. According to the convention groups, Aruba’s tourism infrastructure makes it the ideal destination for both small and large convention groups. The results can be measured and appreciated with the presence of groups such as MoviStar from Venezuela, which consisted of more than 550 participants, representing more than one million guilders in on-island investment.

European Market:

The European Market shows some fluctuation and is positively affected by the increase in the Spanish market due to the combination of the charter/cruise packages of Pullman Tours. The Spanish visitors arrive by plane and enjoy an ideal combination of one week land and one week cruise vacation. The Spanish market grew from 428 visitors in 2006 to 4,030 in July year-to-date in 2007.

The UK market also enjoyed a great boost of 29% totaling 5,070 additional visitors, due to an additional First Choice charter flight. The Aruba Tourism Authority continues its efforts to stimulate more charter and scheduled flights, ensuring a constant tourism flow to the island, especially from Europe. Due to irregular air connection in 2007, mostly because of the changing KLM schedule which is less beneficial compared to 2006, the Dutch and Scandinavian markets were greatly affected as their main connection was at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

The Aruba Tourism Authority, AHATA and the Ministry of Tourism are currently undertaking the necessary efforts to convince both ArkeFly and MartinAir to increase their number of flights to Aruba to satisfy the increasing demand for Aruba. In December, MartinAir will add an additional flight and discussions are ongoing with ArkeFly for the possibility of a third flight in 2008. In 2007 there were fewer seats compared to 2005 and 2006.

Holland experienced a small decrease of 0.29% compared to the same period in 2006, from 21,584 to 21,521 visitors. Regardless of the different challenges, there are several convention groups from Holland (Batavus) and Portugal that still opted to visit Aruba with their group. In Europe, Italy is once again starting to show its potential and is growing with a minimal amount of effort and a closer look into that market is set for 2008.

The overall European market enjoyed an increase of 13% compared to the previous year.

Number of nights:

Regarding the amount of nights, the increase was 4.39% in 2007, totaling 3,378,379 compared to the 3,236,310 in 2006. In addition to the number of visitors, the Aruba Tourism Authority also used other indicators to analyze tourism and the number of nights is an important factor.

Conclusion:

The Aruba Tourism Authority is extremely pleased with this year’s results so far, as they clearly indicate that the largest market, which is the U.S., is stable and growing, regardless of the economic challenges worldwide that are momentarily not beneficial for the tourism industry. Also the diversification efforts continue to generate an ample tourism base for Aruba. There are more Latin American countries showing increased interest such as Chile and Ecuador. An example is that the minimal investment done in the early 2007 is already showing positive results with the confirmation of a Chilean group of 100 people accommodated at one of Aruba’s prestigious resorts.

According to Myrna Jansen-Feliciano, Managing Director for the Aruba Tourism Authority, “2007 promises to become a successful year for the tourism industry of Aruba. Month after month, Aruba’s tourism is experiencing a constant increase, indicating that the ATA’s marketing efforts, the different hotel renovations and the upgrades in the tourism product result in a consistent increase in the total number of visitors who are enjoying their vacation on Aruba.”

On Thursday morning November 15th, three possible winning crews sailed off Palm Beach for the final race of the 17th Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta. After a long course with three sausages and two triangles, Eduard Zanen and Mischa Heemskerk (NED) took the bullet and the overall victory. Gunnar Larsen and Bastiaan Tentij (NED) managed to finish third just one spot ahead of Wouter Samama and Sam Frank (NED). Both teams are tied on points, but Larsen/Tentij became second overall on count back. Thomasch and Hankart (AUT) won in the small class of slower catamarans.

KLM Race 10 – ‘Safe sailing’ brings victory


“You will race on a course that has everything in it”, said organiser Edwin Lodder this morning at the briefing. He looked at the top teams and smiled: “Reaching, sausages and counting laps.” The wind was about force five, so cautious racing was important. After the starting gun, the fleet was smoking upwind. Grant Piggott (replacing William Sunnucks, who had to leave early) and Simon Farren were first at the windward mark. Zanen/Heemskerk were fourth, but on the run they overtook two boats. Piggott: “In the second beat, they went far into the right corner and passed us.” The British were close behind the Dutchmen, who extended their lead in every downwind. Zanen: “We sailed safely, which is easier if you are leading.” According to Heemskerk, they had a good preparation before the start and tried to stay calm: “We knew the pressure was on the top three teams. This morning, we said to each other that our event was already successful, so let’s enjoy this last race and sail smoothly. We won with a considerable lead.” That made them the winners of the Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta 2007. Zanen, who became second in 2005 on a Tornado: “It was good fun to sail the F18. It was the first time with such a strong battle and I have learned so much from boat to boat situations. Mischa is a great coach.”

Larsen and Tentij had a mission today. They wanted another colour than bronze. The boys rounded the upwind mark in third position and gained one spot on the run. Larsen: “Grant passed us in the second beat and we had two options: trying to overtake Mischa or covering Wouter. We picked the last one and finished third. We are happy with that result. We climbed to a second position overall” Samama and Frank had an unfortunate start, being rolled by somebody reaching lower. Samama: “That ruined our first beat, which was a pity. We could catch up on Gunnar, but it was not enough. Mischa and Eduard sailed a great race, so they are the true winners. But I am happy with a third place overall and it has been a fantastic racing week.” Heemskerk agreed: “I think everybody enjoyed the close competition and it was nice to watch the fleet interacting with each other. The atmosphere was perfect. It all gives sailing in the Caribbean the ultimate kick. Oolaalaa!”

Unbeaten to the top


This year’s class of slower catamarans (8 entries) was dominated by good old participant Manfred Thomasch from Austria and Henk Hankart from Aruba. They took all ten bullets with their Dart 18. Hankart: “The conditions were excellent, so we did enjoy the sailing. Last year, we had competition from more and very good Dart 18 teams. Without them around, it was easier to win these series.” Thomasch’s favourite race was yesterday’s long distance: “That was a classic one, just perfect.”


All hands are on right now, because the containers need to be packed. But after the work, the sailors are invited to the prize giving and party at Moomba Beach (offered by ATA). That will be the end of a


Top five fast catamarans after 10 races and two discards:

1. NED – Zanen/Heemskerk, F18 Nacra Infusion, 17 points

2. NED – Larsen/Tentij, F18 Nacra Infusion, 20 points

3. NED - Samama/Frank, F18 Hobie Tiger, 20 points

4. NED – Pols/Veenstra, F18 Nacra Infusion, 29 points

5. GBR – Gummer/Bogaards, F18 Capricorn, 35 points


Top three slower catamarans after 10 races and two discards:


1. AUT – Thomasch/Hankart, Dart 18, 8 points

2. ARU – Grijpma/Ren, Sil & Mark, Prindle 19, 19 points
3. ARU – Valize/Hoek, 32 points

In addition to title sponsors Heineken and the Aruba Tourism Authority, the 17th Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta is also sponsored by Hapag Lloyd, TNG Swiss Watches, KLM, Holiday Inn, Does & Cadushi, Yamaha, Patria, Young Improvement, Magic Marine, Coca Cola, AWA, Anthony Veder & Co, Aruba Watersports Center, Colgate, Palm Tours, Pelican Watersports, Seaworld Explorer, Absolute Real Estate and Aruba Aloe.

What’s New in Aruba in 2007? Island Update Shows Booming Tourist Economy, Growing Visitor Numbers, New Air Service &More

Aruba’s a hit in 2007!

This year has proven to be a success with the tourism industry booming, from significant growth in visitor arrival numbers and major hotel and resort renovations to brand-new air service and much more. Aruba remains a vacationer’s paradise with vigorous 4.17% growth in U.S. arrivals through July of 2007 year-to-date, translating into 12,497 additional U.S. travelers to the island. The year kicked off with a robust January and February that saw a 6.52% and 6.13% increase in arrivals (respectively), followed by a strong 10.15% spike in March. Summer travelers from the United States flocked to the Caribbean island in June, as the month saw an incredible 9.26% increase, while July saw a steady 2.61% upswing in U.S. arrivals. Worldwide numbers are already up 6.88% over last year as of July, showcasing Aruba’s strengthening international appeal.

Key developments on Aruba include:

Hotels and Resorts

- In July 2007, Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino began $40 million in enhancements, scheduled for completion by summer 2008, during which the resort will renovate all 413 guest rooms.

- The Westin Aruba Resort entered the second phase of a $16 million renovation. Guestrooms and suites have been upgraded with new furnishings and amenities including 32” flat screen televisions, marble baths, Westin’s Heavenly Bath® products and signature Heavenly Beds®. Renovations to the lobby and public spaces will be completed in December 2007.

- The Holiday Inn SunSpree® Resort Aruba has nearly completed its three-year, $15 million makeover program, featuring a new marine theme in its updated guest rooms, restaurants, and meeting spaces.

- In April, the Casa del Mar Beach Resort converted all 147 rooms, including stores, gym, members lounge and more into a “Pure Allergy Friendly Resort.”

- The RIU Palace Aruba opened in July as a luxury all-inclusive resort with tropical landscaped grounds, an Olympic-size swimming pool, tennis courts, casino, on-site PADI dive and water sports center, a number restaurants and more. The new resort offers 450 luxury guest rooms.

- The Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Casino has completed a $20 million renovation of its guest rooms and bathrooms, suites, Palms Restaurant and Bar, and open-air lobby Alfresco Bar and hosted a soft opening in October. The new look is set to officially debut in early 2008.

- The Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort Aruba completed renovations on its 23 standard studios. Studios now offer new furniture and tiling, bathroom appliances, modern kitchens with granite tops, and flat screen televisions.

Air Service

- JetBlue Airways announced the first-ever Saturday service from Boston’s Logan International Airport to Aruba starting on June 30 and added three more flights per week as of November 1 on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

- American Airlines reinstated nonstop service from Boston’s Logan International Airport in October and offers service five times per week on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

- Spirit Airlines began Saturday nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale on November 10.

- United Airlines will increase service from Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC to six times per week as of December 15.

Restaurants and Culture

- A new fine-dining restaurant, Windows on Aruba, opened in April 2007. Located at The Links at Divi Aruba, Windows on Aruba is a stylish glass-wrapped contemporary restaurant showcasing full views of the ocean and golf course with night lighting of the ninth hole and a circular dining room with elevated two-story atrium.

- The Cinemas at Paseo Herencia opened in June with six new theatres accommodating a total of 860 moviegoers. The cinema features the latest releases as well as acclaimed foreign films.

- Paseo Herencia also pays tribute to island heritage with bi-monthly cultural events, an Aruba Hall of Fame highlighting Aruban pioneers, an open-air amphitheater and a fountain water show.

- To cater to the island’s growing luxury market, the Renaissance Aruba Mall & Marketplace and Paseo Herencia welcomed exclusive brand name stores for the first time ever, including Louis Vuitton, Salvatorre Feragamo, Chopard, David Yurman, Lacoste, Gucci, Diesel, Furla and more.

- The Bon Bini Festival in Fort Zoutman, the oldest building on Aruba, features a weekly local folkloric music and dance festival where visitors can catch the flavor of the island, its people, music, cuisine and hospitality.

“2007 has been a resoundingly successful year for Aruba’s tourism industry. This year Aruba’s visitor statistics have continued to significantly climb over last year, proving that the island’s consistent product improvements and upgrades result in higher arrival numbers and happy vacationers,” said Managing Director for the Aruba Tourism Authority, Myrna Jansen. “We are proud to welcome guests to the island with renovated hotels and resorts, new restaurants, and a number of new flights making it even easier to get to Aruba.”

The 17th Annual Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta edition is off to a great start. Ten separate races embarking daily from beautiful Palm Beach, treating those on shore to a spectacular visual of colorful sails dotting the Caribbean horizon and darting across the Aruban landscape. Approximately 50 teams from the Netherlands, England, Switzerland, Belgium, France and Aruba will take the helm at this exhilarating and competitive event.
Aruba Post N.V. prepared a set of commemorative stamps with the sailing motive, celebrating the Heineken Aruba Catamaran Regatta. The artist is Elvis Tromp, and in his own words he gives a brief explanation of the stamps:
40c - Represents the catamarans set on the beach before the race. It's a beautiful seascape, the boats with their vibrant colors on the beautiful sugar white beaches of Aruba
80c & 130c - 2 designs represents the different angles and views of the race. The stamps show the race as watched from the beach.
125C - This stamp shows a close up of a lady during a race.
This emission is available at the Postal Offices of Oranjestad, San Nicolas, Santa Cruz and Port of Call starting on November 8, 2007 until November 7, 2008 for all our clients that would like to have this special issue.
These stamps can be ordered as well via e-mail: philatelic@postaruba.com
Catch a glimpse of the action on www.arubaregatta.com for daily video updates and images of the activities and the stamps.

The Wild Aruba 2008 Committee is preparing for a congress on preservation of Aruba’s nature. The commission supported by the government, private sector, local and international NGO’s – is preparing the first congress covering the topic of preservation of Aruba’ s nature, including the participation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and International Union Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The congress will consist of two parts, a symposium featuring international and local speakers on the first two days and the second part of the congress (three days) will include workshops where local stake holders will jointly prepare a five year action plan with a long term vision for the next 10 year. The invited speakers will explain in detail on research and experiences with species from the island’s flora and fauna. Land based specimens as well as marine life will be included in the lectures. For more information contact Theo Wools of the Veterinary Service at (297) 585-0400, Roy Croes of the Parke Nacional Arikok at (297) 585-1234, Facundo Franken of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Husbandry at (297) 585-8102 or Castro Perez of the Aruba Tourism Authority at (297) 582-3777.