Ronella CroesDirector-General of Tourism in Bonaire

Ms. Croes talked extensively in an exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital about the development of Bonaire´s travel industry and its future prospects as a travel destination.

By Jose Carlos de Santiago

CND: How long have you been at the helm of Bonaire´s tourism?

RC: I was serving a similar stint in Aruba, so I´ve been just a couple of months in this post in Bonaire.

CND: So, you lived in Aruba, didn´t you?

RC: I was born and I studied in Aruba, though I also lived in Netherlands for approximately six years, due to my professional training.

CND: What´s your college degree?

RC: I have a Bachelor degree in Marketing Management and a Master degree in Business Administration.

CND: How many languages do you speak?

RC: I speak five languages: Papiamento, Spanish, Dutch, English and French, though French is not my best. I´m fluent in al of them, I mean, writing and speaking, except for French in which I´m less fluent.

CND: What kind of tourism expansion policy is Bonaire going to stick to?

RC: Bonaire is a travel destination whose main drawback is an insufficient number of hotels. Obviously, we want to increase the volume of tourists, so that means we´ll have to ratchet up the amount of hotel rooms to meet the demands we want to assimilate. Based on this, we want to draw in investors from the region and put more flights and access points from different parts of the world. We sat down with KLM execs recently and we got a few daily flights from them, among other things. The whole things is based on Bonaire´s goal to grow while maintaining both culture and nature intact.

CND: How many direct tourists and cruise passengers does Bonaire receive?

RC: Latest stats indicate that we´re logging more or less 65,000 direct travelers and 55,000 cruise passengers every year.

CND: How many hotel rooms does Bonaire rely on right now?

RC: The exact figure is 3,258 accommodations, from which half can be categorized as large establishments. The rest is made up of small accommodations. That´s why we want to add 600 new rooms this year in different categories and classes.

CND: Are there many tourists traveling to Bonaire from Latin America?

RC: Latin America is not our premier market. Our number-one market is the U.S. (45 percent) and Europe (45 percent). The remainder belongs to Latin America, especially to Venezuela. We´re joining efforts to reel in far more sunbathers from these regions. As we speak, Peru and Ecuador are shaping up as major market niches for Bonaire.

CND: How many languages are spoken in Bonaire?

RC: In this part of the Caribbean, people speak different languages. In the case of Bonaire, Papiamento, Dutch, English and Spanish are the commonest ones. The French language is not spoken on a regular basis.

CND: What´s the main tourist activity that travelers seek in Bonaire?

RC: Bonaire is a renowned paradise for underwater enthusiasts, one of the leading markets as far as organization, management and preservation of the marine environment are concerned. That makes scuba diving the most sought-after activity, together with more traditional activities that you usually find in any sun-and-sand destination. All this is motivated by the superb state of preservation of our marine environment and the surrounding nature as well, including some inland territories that are similarly attractive to those who love natural environments, calmness, sun, sea, safety, security and goodhearted people.

CND: What kind of investment is Bonaire doing annually in terms of promotion and publicity?

RC: I can´t give you an exact figure, but I can say our money is mostly spent in the U.S. and European markets. Those are our top outbound markets, where most of our projects and customers are and where we have most of our representatives stationed. In the case of South America, the level of investment is not that high, even though they´re markets we´re bent on catching more tourists from.

CND: Is there anything else you´d like to add to wrap things up?

RC: The most important thing is to spread what this island has to offer to those who pick Bonaire as a travel destination and as a recipient of their investments. We´ve got many projects in the offing right now, there´re some major investments underway and the market provides a multitude of opportunities and attractions.

We know there are many investors out there who might be interested in our island and that´s exactly what we want to foster, coupled with the promotion of the island as a travel destination. In a word, we´re encouraging you to visit and invest in Bonaire