Easter (Cuaresma)

Easter begins on Ash Wednesday, right after the King Momo is burned at the stake signifying the end of carnaval. This is the beginning of 40 days of easter. Aruba is predominantly Catholic, so this time of the year is important for most on the island.

Many choose a 'sacrifice', which means something that you give up for the duration of the 40 days. Some of the examples include drinking alcohol and fast food. I guess this is appropriate for the carefree period of carnaval.

Catholic rituals are observed and include the Via Crucis, which is a ceremony that is based on the crucification of Jesus. The most popular Via Crucis is held in Alto Vista Chapel. Especially for this ceremony. White crosses line the road leading up the chapel, which are the stations in the Via Crucis ceremony.

Another tradition is to avoid eating meat on Fridays during Easter. Many restaurants (including fast food chains such as Subway) take this into consideration by adjusting their menus offering fish or seafood dishes.

One tradition that is not derived from religion is camping. During the last 2 weeks of Easter, many families get camping permits and spend up to 2 weeks camping, mostly on the beaches of the island. As most other things in Aruba, this is a family oriented activity. Camping compounds abound the beaches, and are most of the times a combination of regular tents, but also trailers that were previously used for watching the carnaval parades retrofitted for sleeping or a kitchens. If you think of it, it often not a pretty sight, especially for some visitors that are not sure what it's all about, but for camping folks this is a great family activity and some are hardcore campers that have camped every year for 20, 30 or more years.

During camping people basically relax and enjoy themselves mostly on the beach, but also with other activities such as fishing, dominoes, barbecue and visiting other campers nearby.

There are some who also 'camp' in hotels, 'roughing it out' in the comfort of a timeshare property or hotel resort.

Easter week remains a solemn event where most observe with respect, especially Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

TIP: Most isolated beaches in Aruba I can recommend:

Arashi Beach, and past it there are also some little hidden beaches.
Santo Largo in Pos Chiquito
Mangel Halto in Savaneta
Andicuri - On the North side of the island (beware as this is a rougher beach)

Carnaval

This week-end Aruba presented its 58th edition of its carnaval. Aruba boasts one of the best Carnaval in the world, after Brazil's and Trinidad and Tobago. It is the opportunity for people to celebrate and express themselves in a very creative manner.

The season technically starts on November 11 @ 11:11:11am. (this season with a special 11/11/11 @ 11:11:11am) of the previous year, but festivities really start right after new year on the 1st week of January.

There are quite a few different events through the carnaval season, but it all culminates in the final two big bang week-ends including the lighting parades in San Nicolaas and Oranjestad, the children's parades in San Nicolaas and playa (aka Oranjestad), the Jouvert morning in San Nicolaas, the grand parade in San Nicolaas and playa and the burning of the King Momo in Oranjestad. The latter is the symbolic "ritual" that signifies the end of the Carnaval season.

Carnaval was brought to Aruba by immigrants who were attracted by labor opportunities offered by the Exxon refinery (Lago). Many of these immigrants came from the Northern Caribbean island such as Trinidad and Tobago. This all happened during the 20's, 30's and 40's. So, it did start in San Nicolaas. It was 'imported ' to playa by the Aruba Tivoli Club. Together with other prominent social clubs and groups, carnaval grew into the show it is today. Tivoli introduced the now famous lighting parade in the 70's.

TIP: the best spot to enjoy the carnaval is close to the beginning of the parade. Any spot on "Vondellaan"..up to the beginning of L.G. Smith Blvd and not any further then The Talk of The Town (by the roundabout). Let's just say that it gets a bit too hectic after that.

Rum shop

Happy hours everywhere. Plenty of sleek places to enjoy some beer or some cocktails. Interested in a little more local flavor?

Try the following:

Cheto's in Paradera. Doesn't get much more local than that.

For a more "biker" scene. Try Manuelito's in Oranjestad in front of the San Fransisco Catholic church.

In San Nicolaas, try Essoville rumshop. Some of the coldest brewskies you'll find in Aruba.

Can't leave out Charlie's bar.

In Noord you can stop by Watapana, which has gotten tourism attention already.

In Savaneta, Zeerovers is a must do watering hole. You might run into e island's governor shooting some pool.

The bar at Casibari rock formation is certainly also recommendable.

Lasting experiences

So what makes a vacation a so fulfilling experience that it remains as a milepost in your life. Stories begin often like: "...remember the time in Aruba...". These experiences makes you overlook other moments that may be below expectations. A vacation filled with these enriched or even enlighted moments and experiences is what we want in a vacation, and destinations work to provide.

Let's face it, Service quality can only be a spoiler. Nowadays everyone expects decent service skills. Some may be more demanding than others, but there is some tolerance to be found. Off course this, as any other aspect, should be aligned with the brand attributes and promises. This helps have an idea of the tolerance one would expect in terms of the quality of the delivery of the service. The other persons influencing the above is also an important dynamic.

Another very tactical aspect is the physical attributes. Think feng shui. Clean, presentable, beautiful and or interesting. Engaging. Very straight forward. I don't think further elaboration is needed.

Engagement and interaction is key in a true memorable experiences. This is often a combination of the interaction within the group or party itself and the interaction of the party or group and its members with the surroundings and its features. This aspect can be discussed till the cows come home, but the bottomline is that this engagement and interaction dictates the intangible "atmosphere". It all needs to be positively aligned with preconceptions. Exceeding and delighting.

I think Aruba bring good cards to this poker game, while other islands are doing also a good job. And to continue the poker analogy, some other destinations may be bluffing too much. Let's not rest on the laurels, rather continue to devolop these to maintain competetive advantage and build brand value.

Eating

So I mentioned the tip on avoiding the big supermarkets to get better deals. Shop where regular locals shop.  Love to go to the likes of Ling and Sons, but if you want to be nice to your budget, try smaller supermarkets. I personally recommend Cheng's in Bubali. Ask for Howard or Shirley.

If you are looking for restaurants, then let me recommend a couple.

Yami Yami in Bubali, Asian Delight in Oranjestad and Kowloon and Universal in downtown are great oriental food restaurants. Reasonably priced and great tasting food.

For local dishes, there is always Peanuts, Old Fisherman in downtown and Aruban Chef in Tanki Lendeert.

Also try:

• Zeerovers in Savaneta
• Baby Back Ribs on old Mainstreet
• Yanti Takeaway at Camacuri (Indonesian)

to be continued...

One happy island

Everyone agrees that one happy island still resonate very well and that it was good business to bring it back to the forefront. Nonetheless, Aruba needs to seek opportunity to re-strengthen the ownership of happy. Happy is now everywhere. More and more product claim happy or some iteration thereof. Coca Cola also uses it and so does Cuba. It's on HBR. A happy workforce is a productive and motivated workforce. Happy is hot. It's fashionable.

How does Aruba augment the ownership of this key brand component? I have some ideas.

• make sure that the experience creates 'happy'.
• link happy movements, moments and events with Aruba
• link history, legend, philosophy of happy with Aruba
• radiate happy through arts, culture and lifestyle
• communicate all of the above in a consistent, integrated, compelling, creative and direct manner
• refresh and repeat

Easier said than done. We have a couple of good things going for us in a couple of categories. First of all, research indicates that the experience is pretty aligned with happy. It needs to be cultivated and enhanced.

I think that our lifestyle also is aligned with happy. I can't generalize, but I would take the risk to take that as a fact. the laid back attitude and our colorful and lively culture (such as carnaval, certainly have happy moment generating features.).

The communication is also consistent throughout the different channels.

this is the most obvious basic need. Strategic insights will remain in the file for now. Love to hear comments.

Aruba Tourism and Marketing

I start this blog with two objectives in mind.

1. Quit my day job. I hope one day to be independent and be able to walk away from my job. To be able to do that, I need to generate at least the same income as my day job. I am not sure how difficult it can be, but will give it a try. My best shot is to leverage something I like and I am good and or know well. I have three 'keywords' that sum up that aspect i.e. tourism, marketing and Aruba. This leads to my second goal for this blog:

2. Share the best Aruba island tips.

Aruba counts with so many repeat visitors (over 50%), I think there is value in sharing all of the island's tips and secrets. This will augment their intimate experience with Aruba and hopefully save some hard earned dollars on the way.

Aruba, you see, is a great island to visit and live in, but lots of the most valuable experiences can be hidden or distorted by the tourism lens.

As a filler, I will keep readers entertained with ramblings on general topics on tourism and marketing. It's what I do.

Meanwhile, you can help me by spreading the word and help me generate some serious traffic.

First Aruba TIP:

1. Do your grocery shopping in smaller supermarkets like Cheng's in Bubali and save some money.