Bringing its One Happy Island message to ExCel in a convoy of branded London

Oranjestad, November 7, 2007.The Aruba Tourism Authority launched its 2006 winter advertising campaign today, by bringing its One Happy Island message to ExCel in a convoy of branded London taxis.

The three-month campaign, worth around £70,000, includes 75 London cabs, as well as travel trade and consumer travel magazine advertising. The artwork depicts Aruba’s pristine white sand beaches and a beaming Aruban bathing lovely with the tag line; The happiest island in the Caribbean, Just a few smiles away.

According to Minister of Tourism & Transportation, Edison Briesen, “We are enthusiastic to move the UK market forward as I believe Aruba is a perfect destination for UK visitors and this new campaign will boost our efforts in getting the job done”.

Joanna Freezer, UK representation manager for the Aruba Tourism Authority commented: “Our campaign theme is a reworking of successful UK 2004 promotional activity that saw winter season traffic increase by 30 per cent on the previous year.”

Pictured from left to right, some of the Aruban delegation exhibiting at this year’s WTM include:
•David de Smit, Renaissance Aruba Resort and Casino
•Marco Becker, Director, K.E.I.S & Caribbean Resorts
•Sander Langeveld, Sales Manager, Interreps
•Lydia Haveman, Director, Interreps
•Amy Ras-Speyer, Director of Marketing for Europe and Latin America, AHATA
•Frits Israël, Marketing Director, Aruba Tourism Authority
•Humphrey Vrolijk, Area Director Europe, Aruba Tourism Authority
•Edgar Roelofs, Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa

According to Myrna Jansen-Feliciano, ATA’s Managing Director, “This campaign, in addition to the other marketing promotions Aruba has going on in the UK, will surely be effective to fill up the two charters scheduled for 2007.

Starting May 08 to October 23, 2007, First Choice will start an additional charter flight from the UK to Aruba from Manchester International Airport. This will be the second charter flight from First Choice; the original charter flight leaves from London Gatwick Airport.

Aruba in the Dutch Caribbean is set to become the UK’s newest and hottest wedding destination for UK couples.

This idyllic desert island, still largely undiscovered by the British, has not previously allowed visitors to marry there – although it has been a popular honeymoon destination for American newlyweds.

However, The Aruba Parliament passed a law at the beginning of 2002 enabling couples over the age of 18 to marry on the island, subject to submitting appropriate documents 14 days in advance. The new law took effect on New Year’s Day 2002.

Completed forms and other documentation, including birth certificates, must be submitted by post or in person to Aruba’s Office of the Civil Registry. Birth certificates must have a raised seal. Couples must also submit an apostile, which is a statistical search proving that they are both free and eligible to marry. Both can be obtained from the Office of National Statistics on 0870 243 7788 at a cost of £11 for the birth certificate and £15 for the statistical search.

The development is likely to help spur further growth in the number of UK visitors discovering this island – which lies just 18 miles off the Venezuelan coast. Located outside the hurricane belt, Aruba enjoys a consistently dry climate, with temperatures around 80°F every day of the year.

The island boasts some of the best beaches in the Caribbean, with a wide choice of hotels, from large international chain resorts with luxury facilities to more intimate, European-style properties. Boasting superb diving and other watersports, the island is also ideal for those who enjoy golf, horse-riding – and shopping in the duty-free shops of island capital Oranjestaad.

5,000 British tourists visited the island in 2001 – a figure that is building thanks to leading tour operators now featuring package holidays to Aruba. These include Kuoni, Sovereign and Croydon-based Interchange.

The wedding planner at the Occidental can arrange a beachside ceremony with a priest at a cost of $200. But the couple must still be legally married in the Town Hall first. For this it is best to use Aruba Weddings For You, who can arrange a number of wedding packages from basic ceremonies at £425 to celebrations with all the trimmings. Call Bonnie Stanley at the Occidental on 00297 864500 or e-mail b.stanley@aruba.allegroresorts.com

Flights are available with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, with departures from 18 UK regional airports, via Amsterdam (KLM has 17 flights a week, direct to Aruba from Amsterdam; flight time around nine hours); or with American Airlines from London-Heathrow via Miami.

For further information on Aruba and for a list of operators with holiday packages, call the Aruba Tourism Brochure Line on 020 7401 8961.

Call Lissy Lampe at Aruba Weddings For You on 00297 837638, e-mail , or log onto the website at http://www.arubaweddingsforyou.com

Effective December 1, 2002, KLM intends to enhance its network to the Dutch Antilles and Aruba. The emphasis will be on increasing flight frequency, simplifying the structure and increasing the number of nonstop flights to and from the Leeward Islands.

Previously, multiple destinations on the Dutch Antilles were often bundled into round-trip flights (for example: Amsterdam-Aruba-Curaçao-Amsterdam), it now appears that increasing numbers of KLM passengers prefer nonstop flights. Effective December 1, 2002, five nonstop flights a week will be operated between Amsterdam and Curaçao using B747-300 equipment. Thrice-weekly nonstop flights will be operated to Aruba using MD 11 equipment. The stopover destination of the daily Amsterdam-Lima flight (currently Aruba) will be relocated to Bonaire. The adjustments will also mean that KLM will operate twice-daily nonstop flights to Bonaire using MD11 equipment, given that the stopover destination of the daily Quito flight is already Bonaire.

KLM will be cooperating with its new partner, Dutch Eagle Express NV, which will be operating its flights under the name BonairExel.
BonairExel will operate connecting flights between the various islands that connect seamlessly with KLM’s flights. On balance, this will greatly increase the number of daily connections for existing destinations. Transfer passengers flying with BonairExel will also be able to participate in KLM’s Flying Dutchman loyalty program.

The following connections with Amsterdam will be offered in cooperation with partner airline BonairExel:
- Bonaire: 19x weekly (incl. 14x nonstop)
- Curaçao: 12x weekly (incl. 5x nonstop)
- Aruba: 17x weekly (incl. 3x nonstop)
- Saint Martin: 14x a week via Bonaire and Curaçao

The Aruba Tourism Authority has been flooded with enquiries since direct flights went on sale with First Choice in summer 2002. Starting next May, Air 2000 will operate weekly services alternating between Gatwick and Manchester, with a flight time of 11 hours.

Hayes & Jarvis is the latest big operator to feature Aruba, in its worldwide brochure launched in July 2002.

Three years ago Aruba was an unfamiliar destination in the UK market until the tourism authority took the decision to promote the island in the British market. Since then visitor numbers have soared by 40 per cent, with next year’s charter expected to provide a further boost.

Rafael Estrada, Area Director Europe, says: ‘Before we came into the UK market we had under 2,000 UK visitors a year. By the end of 2001 we had reached 5,000 and we are expecting to outstrip that in 2002.

‘This year we had a much bigger budget and we carried out advertising in consumer newspapers, tube card advertising and training sessions with tour operators. We also run press trips each year with national media.

‘Our efforts are really paying off; the number of enquiries we receive has tripled this year and whereas a handful of operators used to feature Aruba, it is now 18. This includes small tailor-made firms. We will participate in the CTO roadshows, and consumer holiday shows in Bournemouth, Manchester, Glasgow and London.

‘The charter flight with First Choice is obviously a major breakthrough for us. The interest from the public has been immense – unsurprisingly, as it’s a direct route to paradise!’