Kralendijk- Preparatory work has started on what will be the new Ghogogo ‘Time-to-Smile’ resort, which will be operated in close cooperation with travel organization Tui. The terrain of the former Hotel Bonaire and Sunset Beach hotel is currently being cleared by a bulldozer.

The terrain in recent recent was mostly not in use, except for the temporary operation on the beach known as “Coco Beach”. Now that the shrubs have been cleared, it can be seen how big the terrain actually is.

The Time-to-Smile resort will most probably provide quite a boost to the further development of tourism on the island. A similar resort on Curaçao, also operated in close cooperation with Tui, has a consistently high level of occupancy.

Hotel Bonaire, constructed in the 1960’s, was never very successful, but got a second lease on life during the period it was operated as Sunset Beach Hotel by Bonaire’s captain-of-tourism-industry Hugo Gerharts.

The buildings of Hotel Bonaire/Sunset Beach hotel were torn down after a fire in primarily the former main building, left the hotel in a dangerous state. The premises were already vacant at the time, after Sunset Beach was declared bankrupt in the mid-1990’s. Especially the beach of the hotel was always quite popular, both with tourists and locals.

It is hoped that the new hotel will bring back the area to its former glory.