• The launch of the 1998 Watapana Festival on May 6 has been a hit. This food and art extravaganza will now take place every Wednesday between 6 and 8pm through September 30 1998. Locals and visitors alike can get a taste of a wide variety of culinary delights prepared by several of Aruba's top restaurants as well as enjoy watercolors, oils, photographs, kwihi wood creations, jewelry, decorative shells, and a large selection of local crafts.

(More snippets to come as May progresses)

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The Aruba Palm Beach Resort & Casino recently announced the beginning of the final phase of a multi-million dollar upgrade project that will culminate in a repositioning of the property as the premier small, luxury resort in Aruba- the "new" Aruba Grand. By late December 1998, the new exterior took will be complete, highlighting the many dramatic interior changes that have quietly taken place over the past three years.

This phase of construction will include a new entrance to the resort, changing of the exterior facade, restaurant remodeling and redesign of the pool and beachfront area. The existing oceanfront guestrooms, located directly on the Palm Beach walk, will be converted into luxury "Grand Suites" complete with private beachfront courtyards - a design that will impress the most discriminating VIP!

New meeting facilities, nearly 5000 sq. ft., are configured in three main salons and two executive boardrooms. 'Me final stage of guest room renovations is now underway which includes new furnishings, refrigerators and in-room safes and upgraded bath amenities. In addition, sprinkler and alarm systems will be installed throughout the resort. 'Me most significant changes until now have come with the redesign of the hotel lobby and the updated casino. Completed in January 1997, the new lobby look brought a classic Caribbean feel, complete with potted palms and island art, to a comfortable lounging space for the many re-

peat guests. The Oasis lobby lounge was added, complete with an ornate wood carved bar, ceramic Amstel beer tap, and a baby grand piano for evening entertainment. Earlier this month the resort announced the grand opening of the new casino, "Casino Merengue", highlighting the $1 million dollar renovation and management by Thunderbird Gaming of Canada, thereby completing another part of the overall upgrading strategy.

The resort also announced today an affiliation with Prestige Resorts and Hotels, a collection of luxury resorts located throughout the US and the Caribbean. "The small meetings market will be a key component of our successful repositioning in 1999," said Nanette Saylor, Director of Sales for Aruba Grand. "Our new affiliation with Prestige Resorts will help us reach out to a quality client base that may not have considered Aruba previously, but who have routinely selected small independent luxury properties, unique in their marketplaces. It is that niche market we know we can satisfy best with our special brand of personal, customized service." To meet the need of this specialty market, Aruba Grand will be an Access Partner at Tierra del Sol Golf Club for 1999.

In 1990, with the initiative of Mr. Ewald Biemans of Bucuti Beach Resort, AHATA planned its first ATEX – Aruba Travel Exposition - to take place the following year. During the years AHATA accumulated substantial funds from familiarization trips for travel agents who visit Aruba annually. To effectively invest in these funds, AHATA decided to organize an event for travel agents which does not exist in any tourist destination. The first ATEX was organized on its own in 1991 assisted by the North American company, Coleman, Inc. who are specialized in such events. ATEX was very successful, it was decided to make it an annual event, nevertheless additional funds were needed. The European Union was approached and agreed to partially finance the event which they did for 7 consecutive years, hereby making its last contribution towards ATEX 1998.

William H. Coleman, contracted by AHATA, has taken care of the management of the event for the past eight consecutive years and this year was no exception. This company takes care of all marketing and registration of travel agents as well as those who provide the tourist market of Aruba. The Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) also has a hand in the event, preparing presentations and insuring that Aruba is well promoted during the event. In the past years ATEX has had some very successful years with approximately 1,000 participants. However, priority must be given to the quality of the agency. AHATA therefore made some decisions by reducing the quantity of agents visiting Aruba for ATEX by increasing the quality.

This year some 800 participants attended, of which 250 from the Latin market, 180 from North America, the balance from Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, USA, Venezuela and Colombia. ATEX has also attracted members of the international press who are in Aruba covering the exhibition. The official arrival of the delegates was May 14. May 15 and Saturday, May 16, there was a presentation of the participating islands combined with an inspection of the hotels in Aruba. On Saturday there also was the Travel Exposition at Seaport Conference center with 65 stands participating. In the evening the event came to an end with the traditional "Taste of Aruba" with music by "Super Orquesta Quasi.