"In Bonaire, Nature Is our Treasure", Says Tourism Expert

Bonaire is betting on a tourism product that makes a difference in the regional context, where its natural wealth and the human quality of its people stand out, said Veroesjka De Windt, Director of the Association of Hotels and Tourism Activities of that Caribbean island, exclusively to Caribbean News Digital. 

"We are betting on a tourism less interested in the resort and more focused on nature. Although Bonaire is not a small island, compared to its neighbors, we do have a small population of only 22,000 inhabitants, so most of the country is protected natural areas, both on the surface and in the sea," she explained during her participation in the Caribbean Travel Marketplace, which is being held in Puerto Rico until October 5.  

In that sense, he specified: "We do not seek to turn the island into something very commercial, and in addition to defending the environment and when we refer to our nature we do it in our way of being friendly, providing service, sharing our land with others and with tourists in a friendly way so that they feel at home, welcome to know new things and enjoy experiences in a natural way".

He also added that since many parts of the island are protected, it is not possible to build and the appreciation of astronomy is another great attraction because there is no electricity in all those areas. 

From the point of view of positioning De Windt commented: "we want to be recognized as different from the rest of the destinations in the Caribbean, focused on a tourist who not only wants to enjoy the beaches, who is an active visitor, who wants to practice sports, taste our local food and exchange with the people of the island".

Bonaire has direct flights with North American cities such as Miami and Atlanta, and with Amsterdam, in Holland. "We are very interested in having better connectivity with Latin America, from where there is a strong demand, since to travel to the island from countries like Colombia -for example- it is necessary to do it through Curaçao", he explained. 

At the moment, Bonaire is free of sanitary restrictions for travelers, who do not need the Covid-19 test to enter the country, and the directive assures that with respect to the rest of the world, the impacts of the disease were not so massive, which allowed them to reopen their borders early.

"This favored an explosion of visitors in the first recovery stage and this had a favorable impact on the sector. Although after the resumption of the tourist offer in other destinations the entries have decreased a little, we still have an acceptable level of flow, according to our previous normality", assured De Windt.