Aruba makes it in the Top 100 Readers Choice Awards for Scuba Diving.

Aruba made it in three separate categories of the Fifth Annual Top 100, Readers Choice Awards 1998 for Reader's Scuba Diving category.

The awards have been the world's only reader-based, objective evaluation of dive destinations, operators, live-boards and resorts, for over half a decade. The evaluations reflect more than an average, they're a reflection of CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

Over 6,000 readers rated their last dive vacation on a scale of one to five. Aruba landed in the top of three categories of dive operators, live-boards, resorts and destinations that most reliably deliver the greatest satisfaction to divers.

In the BEST WRECK DIVING category: 1.Bermuda, 2.Aruba, 3. British Virgin Islands, 4. Grand Bahama, 5.Cayman Brac. In the BEST TOPSIDE ATTRACTIONS: 1. Bermuda, 2. Cancun, 3. Dominica, 4. Aruba, 5. Jamaica. Aruba came in 15th place in the MOST POPULAR category. The category is based on the destinations, operators, live-boards and resorts that received the highest number of total responses.

More than ten extra flights to Aruba during Memorial Day Weekend/Sinbad Event

Sinbad promises to be a big success again. So far about twelve charters will be operating during the Memorial Day Weekend, arriving on May 20th and leaving on May 25th, Listed below are the scheduled charters:

Miami Air-Atlanta, ATA-Atlanta, ATA-British West Indies, Tradewinds -British West Indies, Tradewinds -New York. Sky Trek-EWR, ATA-DTW, ATA-Orlando, Miami Air-Miami, Sky Trek-Miami, Suncountry Dallas/Fort Worth. There are approximately 3,400 seats in total available on these flights.

10 years of Aruba money.

The original designs of Aruban paper money, as well as the Aruban coins, are by artist Evelino Fingal, Director of the Archaeological Museum. He found his inspiration for the unusual designs in the old Indian paintings and pot shards of some 900 years ago. Fingal combined the archaic forms of Aruban wildlife

with the pictures of the animals unique to the island- the cascabel(rattlesnake), the dori(frog), the mero(grouper), tortuga (turtle) and calco (conch). After the designs were sent to Holland to be printed, the designs had to be "translated" to fit the machines. For the front, only two colors were possible, for the back three colors. Quite a few proof sheets were needed to got the exact color-scheme.

The issue and sale of the yearly coin sets and the several special commemorative coins are thanks to the cooperation between Aruba and De Nederlandse Munt. Special collector covers are on sale in bookstores. For commemorative coins, however one should go to the Central Bank, located behind the Sonesta Hotel.

Air Aruba announces temporary fleet reduction

Air Aruba has announced that it will undergo a temporary fleet reduction as one of their aircraft will be returned to the lessor in accordance with the lease agreement. As a result, a readjustment of the flight schedule will be necessary.

Services to/from Baltimore will be suspended after May 31st. In addition, passengers holding tickets on Air Aruba to Bonaire and from Baltimore to the Dutch Caribbean will be affected by the schedule changes. Air Aruba will do everything possible to provide alternative connections.

Aruba Tourism Authority - one step ahead.

Aruba Tourism Authority, once more, shows its leadership skills. We are the first ones to use the DVD system in the Caribbean. "The Digital Video Disk system has come to replace the video cassette," says Mrs. Lourdes Roux Director of ATA-Canada.

The DVD system is similar to a video cassette system. The only difference in looks is that the information is stored digitally on a disk. Advantages include: a clearer form of presentation, (no lines or visual obstructions), it can be copied over and over again, without losing its clarity, and the viewer can click on the desired 'scene' without fastforwarding or rewinding the entire program.

The DVD device is currently being used for presentations to travel agents in Canada. By the end of the summer we expert it to also include hotels and activities, for the enjoyment of consumers around the world.

ITB brings positive news

Directors of the Aruba Tourism Authority-Aruba, Mr.Jan van Nes, and Mr. Rafael Estrada, Director for ATA Europe, recently attended the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) Berlin.

The objective of their trip was to meet with among others: LTU-charter airline from Germany; Avianca Airlines (interested in flights from either Madrid or Milan); City Birds (which plans to schedule service in December from Brussels to Aruba ), Italian and Spanish airline services interested in flying to Aruba, in

order to bring in 25,000 new visitors, or more, to the island.

Even though no flight schedules have yet been hopes are high for positive news.

Aruba in the news.

From Venezuela to Germany people are reading and learning more and more about Aruba in magazines and newspapers. Twenty pages of colorful, swimsuit shoots for the SWIM-catalog taken in Aruba was recently released in Venezuela. ATA Venezuela in conjunction with ATA's Public Relations Department worked very hard to coordinate this photo shoot. The results are great!

BLACK MEETINGS & TOURISM of February 1998 released two clips on Aruba. While one article focused on the Vacation Express charter, the other was based on all Aruba has to offer as a meeting destination.

In the March 19 1998 issue of TRAVEL WEEKLY, the only 100% paid travel trade newspaper, the writer keeps its subscribers up to date with news about Aruba's One Cool Honeymoon, One Cool Summer promotions and Sinbad.

The happiness and perfect weather on Aruba were the main topic in Post-Crescent Newspaper's February 22, 1998 issue.