Worldwide Aruba News

By Karen Bartlett for the Toronto Star

ARUBA — Arubans were in shock this fall when they awoke to find their centuries-old landmark gone — dissolved into the sea.

The Natural Bridge was a stunning 30.5-metre coral arch, which soared 7.6 metres above the sea. Lovers gravitated to the spot for romantic golden sunsets; daredevil body-boarders and surfers sought thrills against the wild waters and the sharp rocks below.

It was formed by the savage waves that smash against the coral cliffs of Aruba's wild side. For centuries, this raging surf has pounded, retreated and returned with foaming vengeance, chiselling out the mysterious caves and grottoes of Aruba's northeastern coast and creating one of its most photographed natural wonders.

But here's a secret that even many locals don't know: there are six more coral bridges on Aruba's wild windward side.

Read the complete story at:
www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1135077485782&call_pageid=970599119419

By Ben Chapman for TravelAgent

The Caribbean island of Aruba is recovering from the much-publicized disappearance of an Alabama teenager,
Natalee Holloway, in the spring, island officials and agents say, citing strong occupancy and arrivals, and a renewed commitment
to visitor safety.

The hospitality community is deeply concerned with the Holloway case, says Myrna
Jansen, managing director for the Aruba
Tourism Authority. “Aruba is a very safe place,
and that’s why the case has been so widely
publicized,” she says. “We certainly hope it’s
solved very soon.”

Positive Signs

Jansen says Aruba’s reputation remains in-tact, noting that U.S. arrivals for June 2005
were up 9 percent over a year ago, and hotel
occupancy forecasts are also higher than
last year’s, with 79 percent island-wide occupancy estimated for October and 78 percent
predicted for November. “Aruba leads the
Caribbean in repeat visits, with 40 percent of
our visitors returning to the destination,” she
explains. “They know that Aruba is a safe island, and it’s great to have that support.”

The southern Caribbean destination continues to see a strong mix of families and
honeymoon travelers, especially in the high
season between Dec. 23 and Easter, when
room rates can go up as much as 30 percent, says Rob Smith, general manager at the
481-room Wyndham Aruba Resort Spa &
Casino. “Our guest probe is changing
slightly-it’s becoming demographically a little more upscale,” he observes, “We’re looking
at the first quarter of next year and it looks
great, even compared with 2005, which has
been an excellent year.”

Smith is president of the Aruba Hospitality
& Security Foundation, a four-year-old public/private partnership designed to increase
the visibility of law enforcement in tourist
zones. “We started the foundation because we
realize safety is one of our top selling points
here in Aruba,” he explains. “In the post 9-11
era we thought it was a good idea to increase
the visibility of the security force. The foundation currently employs 71 uniformed security
guards that work directly with police, patrolling
hotels, beaches, and other areas frequented
by visitors,” Smith says. Primary funding for the
$1.5 million-dollar program comes from the
Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association.

What Agents Say

Good air coverage, packages from wholesalers, and a diverse set of island attractions
product are making for a good year in Aruba,
agents say, despite the substantial publicity
around Holloway’s disappearance.

Direct flights to Aruba, like those offered by
US Airways from Philadelphia, are major selling points for the destination, says Donna
Stoop, owner of Jade Travel Services in Aston,
PA. “I’m continuing to see a lot of interest in
Aruba, because of the variety there. It has
beautiful beaches, excellent diving, and
Vegas-style casinos,” she explains.

Jamie McCabe, owner of See Life Travel in
Ellington, CT, says that packages from the
Northeast to Aruba help make the destination
especially attractive, noting that Apple Vacations, GMV Vacations and TNT Vacations all
offer Aruba packages, some with direct charter
flights from the East Coast. In McCabe’s primary markets in the Northeast, the perception
of Aruba is one of safety, she says. “In my opinion, Aruba is one of the safest destinations in
the Caribbean. I’m not hearing any concerns
about safety from my clients.”

But the Holloway disappearance
has changed things for at least one
travel agency in the teen’s hometown. Cheryl Floyd, leisure specialist
at All Seasons Travel, in Birmingham, AL, says “Certainly Natalee’s
disappearance has impacted us.
Before this summer, we sold a significant amount of Aruba business,
but I don’t think we’ve sold a single
Aruba package since then.

“People are staying away out of
respect to the family, but also because there is a certain amount of fear involved,” she says. “I hope
things get back to normal, because Aruba is such a lovely island, and the people there really
depend on tourism.”

Suppose you are a top executive from one of the worlds largest and Europe’s most influential travel company, TUI AG. You are planning your wedding and can choose anywhere in the world. In your position you have contracted business with resorts in the most beautiful destinations in the world…Bali, Thailand, the Greek Islands, the Caribbean, the French and Spanish Rivera’s, …all the major cities in the world…and any one of them would consider it an honor and privilege to host your wedding? Where would you choose? Mr. Manfred Lahey of TUI International, based in the Netherlands chose Eagle Beach, Aruba and the Bucuti Beach Resort.

Their wedding was planned with Bucuti management under strict secrecy to preserve an intimate atmosphere and was an elegant affair held on the beach at sunset. Bucuti utilized the enthusiasm and skill of their talented team of associates to produce the elegant wedding of their dreams complete with a blazing orange sunset as the backdrop for parents, family and friends who attended. After the romantic beach ceremony, family and friends joined for a gourmet meal on the beach beneath an open air wedding tent decorated with flowers, creamy crisp linens and candlelight with tuxedoed servers serving on silver service.

“We have known Susan and Ewald Biemans for over 10 years and their resort feels like home to us” states Irma and Manfred. “The Bucuti Beach Resort and Tara Suites are beautiful and their beach is quiet and romantic. We both found it to be the perfect choice”.

Touristik Union International ( http://www.tui.com/en/ ) is headquartered in Hannover, Germany and employs 57, 716 people. TUI has an excellent position in its core tourism business. With a turnover of around Euro 13.1 billion, the Group is the unchallenged market leader in Europe. The European tour operators within World of TUI reach over 80 per cent of European holidaymakers. In 2004, the Group had around 18 million customers. TUI now includes about 3,200 travel agencies, more than 100 aircraft, 37 incoming agencies and 290 hotels with 163,000 beds in 28 countries. Around 12,000 business travel professionals in over 80 countries also look after the Group’s business customers. ( Source: http://www.tui.com/en/pressemedien/tui_profile/brief_portrait/index.html )

Condé Nast Traveler magazine today released the names of the 23 school children finalists in the 14th Annual “My Caribbean Essay Contest.” This contest, the first of its kind for Caribbean school children, has become a symbol of Conde´ Nast Traveler’s commitment to the development in the Caribbean.

The 23 student finalists and their chaperones will fly courtesy of American Airlines to the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s annual conference (CTC) in St. Thomas, USVI which is being held this year from October 23 - October 26, 2005. At the conference, a grand prize-winner and two runners-up will be announced during the awards ceremony on October 25th. A $2,000 scholarship will be awarded to the winner, along with $500 scholarships for the two runners-up. The winning essay will also be featured in the December 2005 issue of Condé Nast Traveler.

The finalists in alphabetical order by country are:

Anguilla, Nordisia Lake
Antigua & Barbuda, Samuel Nurse
Aruba, Gloria Franken
Bahamas, Danielle Roberts
Barbados, Gabrielle Farley
Belize, Kristin Marin
Bermuda, Zoe Friesen
British Virgin Islands, Jodi Samuel
Cayman Islands, Clare-Louise McGrath
Dominica, Tamika Jude
Grenada, Shadina Simon
Guyana, Angela Singh
Jamaica, Shanice Hinds
Montserrat, Karishma Dhera
Nevis, Uta Trish Taylor
St. Eustatius, Greida Gibbs
St. Kitts, Davon Richardson
St. Maarten, Terequé Leblanc
St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Vakeesha John
Suriname, Raies J. Wolfram
Trinidad & Tobago, Rhonda Bobb
Turks & Caicos, Carolyn Martinez
U.S. Virgin Islands, Dionna Hopkins

This annual contest is part of a tourism awareness program for school children between the ages of 8 and 12. Each of the 23 finalists attending the Caribbean Tourism Conference will receive an eye-opening experience into the world of tourism. The contest, sponsored by Condé Nast Traveler, the Caribbean Tourism Organization, and American Airlines, educates elementary school children in the Caribbean islands about the importance of tourism to their country’s economy. Grade school children of the 32 CTO member countries were asked to submit a 250 word essay on the following topic:

“If you were given the responsibility of preserving your island’s environment and maintaining its beauty, how would you do that, and how would you involve your whole community from children to adults?”

The theme and rules for the 2005 “My Caribbean” essay contest were communicated to all CTO members by the magazine’s publisher, Lisa Hughes who said,“ The Condé Nast Traveler “My Caribbean” essay contest is the highlight of our year. The children who participate are exceptional - articulate, gifted, hard-working, committed. The themes they address in their essays – their islands’ history, culture, environment - are important to both Condé Nast Traveler and the Caribbean tourism boards. We are proud to support the children of the Caribbean and the Caribbean Tourism Organization.”

Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, Caribbean Tourism Organization Secretary General added: “The Caribbean Tourism Organization is proud to be associated with this important programme designed to prepare our tourism professionals of tomorrow for the opportunities and challenges of the tourism industry. For the past 14 years, Condé Nast Traveler has been a valuable partner in this venture and we look forward to maintaining this excellent relationship as we continue to embrace travel and promote tourism in the years ahead.”

By Tania Fuentez for MySanAntonio.com

Should you get lost in Aruba, follow the divi-divi trees.

That was the tip from Leroy King, a tour guide, as my mother, aunts and a busload of people ventured into the rocky, parched interior that defines much of this unique island.

The divi-divi trees — gnarled and outstretched to the Caribbean Sea — have been contorted by the steady trade winds into huge, bonsai-like figures, and their limbs point west, to the bustling hotel district.

But we quickly realized that many of Aruba’s points of interest are far from the hotels and the island’s Main Street, with its colorful casinos and storefronts. Away from these developments, we encountered white sand dunes amid rugged desert landscapes. The coastline is strewn with coral-encrusted shipwrecks. Volcanic rock formations, lagoons and gold mine ruins wait to be explored, and towering cacti and aloe dot the arid countryside.

Read the complete story go to:
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlc=1114195

By Tania Fuentez for Ohio.com

Should you get lost in Aruba, follow the divi-divi trees.

That was the tip from Leroy King, a tour guide, as my mother, aunts and a busload of people ventured into the rocky, parched interior that defines much of the unique island.

The divi-divi trees — gnarled and outstretched to the Caribbean Sea — have been contorted by the steady trade winds into huge, bonsailike figures, and their limbs point west, to the bustling hotel district.

TO READ THE COMPLETE STORY GO TO:
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/7650677.htm

By Karyn J. Bilezerian for the Boston Herald

Bostonians clearly have a love affair with Aruba. It seems like nearly everyone here knows at least someone who makes regular pilgrimages.

It’s not suprising when you consider that, according to the Aruba Tourism Authority, more than 54,000 Boston-area residents visited Aruba last year, making Beantown the island’s second-largest tourism market after New York.

What inspires such devotion to a 70-square-mile vacation locale? After all, there certainly are closer places to visit - Puerto Rico, Bermuda and the Bahamas, to name a few - that, like Aruba, offer sun, beaches and water sports. So just what is it that gets provincial Bostonians to make the nearly five-hour flight from Logan (longer if you have to switch planes in Miami.)?

TO READ THE COMPLETE STORY GO TO:
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/travelNews/edgeTravel.bg?articleid=76

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!’