Dutch envoy going to Curaçao

DURING his welcome address at his residence for a visiting Curaçao delegation in TT for the Trade and Investment Convention (TIC) last week, Dutch ambassador Jules Bijl asked guests, by the show of hands, "Who knows Curaçao?" Not liking what he saw, he said that was not enough.

He told the gathering he personally first touched base in Curaçao in 1996 and fell instantly in love with the country.

“I went there with my family in those days to work, and ever since there is a virus in my blood and it doesn’t disappear. So I felt I want to go back later in my career. I had the opportunity to come back in 2010 and I stayed for five years before I was posted in Trinidad, which was a beautiful posting and it’s ended now and I leave TT July 31 – and guess what, I’m travelling to Curaçao again and will start living there and doing my own business in Curaçao.”

Luckily, he added, he has a lot of reasons to come back to Trinidad every now and then, but Curaçao has stolen his heart.

“I am sure everyone who will visit will have the same feeling. I don’t know any Trini person who went for holiday or a weekend to Curaçao that doesn’t love it,” Bijl said.

Two years ago Bijl held talks with the minister of economic development in Curaçao, asking him why more wasn't being done to promote Curaçao at the time. He told the minister: “I don’t see any traffic, we have a free zone, it’s a lovely island, everybody loves it when they leave, so there should be possibilities.

“Last year the (Curaçao) minister of economic development and a big delegation came over (to TT) and also visited the TIC and Caribbean Airlines, which was an important visit because we are shortly gearing towards the first flight to Curaçao.”

That inaugural CAL flight takes place next month.

Janine de Windt, head of marketing at the Curaçao Tourist Board, told guests about “the good job our ambassador has started since a year or two ago. But last year, the meeting that we had with Caribbean Airlines, where we gave a presentation, as well as the Curinde representative of the Curaçao Harbour Economic Zone, they were so excited after that you kept working for us, and we don’t know how to thank you from the bottom of our hearts and now we can have the first flight, August 2.”

She added: “Now we are relaunching and repositioning Curaçao again in the TT market.”

Included in the Curaçao delegation were policy advisers Said John Hensen and Nzinga Waandels of Curaçao’s ministry of economic development, Garrick Stomp of Cinex, and Martin Versnel, FBTT touring company.

De Windt will be back in August with a bigger delegation for Carifesta.

As a token of her appreciation for the courtesies extended to her and her team over the years by Bijl, de Windt presented him with a gochi (a Curaçao trinket) for his new home in Curaçao.