Bonaire Tourism sector reviews first quarter figures and looks ahead to the rest of 2026

KRALENDIJK — On Thursday, May 22, Tourism Corporation Bonaire (TCB), Bonaire Hotel and Tourism Association (BONHATA), Bonaire International Airport (BIA) and the harbour master of the Public Entity Bonaire (OLB) organised the first tourism quarterly update of 2026. The meeting was held at the Van der Valk Plaza Resort.

The joint information session attracted more than 100 participants, including key industry partners, local entrepreneurs and members of the press. The relatively high turnout and active participation demonstrated the broad engagement of the sector with Bonaire’s performance and economic future.

During the presentation, speakers shared a large amount of data, including analyses and strategic insights. The session focused primarily on recent tourism figures, with a detailed breakdown of the performance of the various sectors — stay-over tourism, cruise tourism and air passengers.

TCB also provided a broad overview of marketing initiatives, community engagement, product development and promotional activities successfully carried out over the past three months to attract visitors to Bonaire.

In addition to a review of past performance, the presentation also offered an outlook on the remainder of 2026.

Trends

Veroesjka de Windt, director of BONHATA, outlined current hospitality industry trends and underlined the importance of the sector for Bonaire.

Giordano Molina, operational director of BIA, spoke about the recent growth in passenger numbers at the airport and the ongoing modernisation of its infrastructure.

Finally, harbour master Günther Flanegin presented figures on cruise tourism and an overview of port policy.