Following is an address delivered by Parlimentary Secretary Tourism, The Hon. Haydn Hughes, at the AHTA annual general meeting on wednesday, March 21.
It is important at this juncture in our history that we have Mr. Hugh Riley, Secretary General of the CTO; a man who I have tremendous respect for as an ambassador of theCaribbeanaround the world. Someone who is learned and does not try to show off how intelligent he is. He demonstrates that he has two ears and one mouth and is always willing to listen and assist. We have with us today, the Hon. Ricky Skerrit, Chairman of the CTO. He is immensely qualified and I am happy to be one of those who have voted for him in the most recent election – an election which made him the Chairman and he is doing an excellent job representing theCaribbeanand has been a trailblazer in the Air Passenger Duty with the British Government. It is comforting knowing thatAnguillais not alone in their fight with Her Magesty’s Government on unfair practices and bullying dictates.
As the person who is tasked with the day to day operations of Tourism, I would like to welcome you on behalf of the Government and people of Anguilla to the best of CTO’s 33 member countries and we are confident that the warmth, hospitality and friendliness of our people will cause you to makeAnguillayour next vacation Destination.
I am happy to also have in our presence the Hon. Chief Minister, the Hon. Jerome Roberts, the Hon. Walcott Richardson who’s Ministry I have to rely on on many issues, Permanent Secretary Tourism, Mr. Foster Rogers and to our most esteemed tourist, His Excellency, Governor William Alistair Harrison here today. I am indeed happy that the President of the AHTA, the representatives of the same and all those who are representative of the ATB are here. You are our true partners and we are here to serve you. To that end, I have been pleased with the meetings we have had with hoteliers, restaurant owners, car rental agencies, villa operators who are key to our development, Ferry boat and Charter boat owners, the Taxi association, beach vendors, porters and cruise ship agencies with the view of forging closer ties with Government. We will not always agree on everything but the one thing we will agree on is that tourism is key to our development and will continue to be so for the next 500 years.
I must first apologize for my late arrival as I was at the Attorney General’s chambers going over the drafting legislation I proposed to clean up the situation at our beaches related to beach vending. This is long overdue and will cost us some votes but we have to be more concerned aboutAnguillathan votes.
No amount of taxes, no amount of austerity, no amount of contingency plans that are imposed upon us will negate the fact that we have to invest and reinvest in our tourism plant – that we have to invest in marketing, public relations, and promoting Anguilla around the world so that all the members of the AHTA, our core constituents who fuel our economy are sustainable and profitable. So goes the members of the AHTA, so goes the economy. If Government cannot do their part to promote the destination especially with the competition all around us fromMadagascarto theMaldives, fromSeychellestoCroatia, fromDubaito St. Barths. If we do not do our part, then we will suffer the consequences.
The reality on the ground is that since 2009, theCaribbeanhas lost the most amount of demand and during that time to now, it has also had the lowest projected growth rate for any region. This is due to the fact that coupled with the market crash during 2008 and the subsequent recession, the Caribbean and indeed Anguilla instead of pumping blood into a bleeding patient, we have sought to bleed the patient some more. We have not spent enough to garner the results of other destinations that have seen increases that are synonymous with their spend on promotions, marketing, public relations and keeping themselves in the marketplace.
This is something the Caribbean has to wrestle with and more so us, as a non self-governing colony ofEngland.
All is not lost. I am happy that my vision is being shared by the ATB and the AHTA and we have been doing as much as we can with the EC$8 million which we were afforded but it is not nearly enough. We have the lowest spend in all of theCaribbeanand we are the most dependent.
This is something that needs to be addressed. There are many other issues that need to be address but this is not the forum and we do not have the time as there are other speakers but I can tell you, that the AHTA has this Government’s fullest support and we will work with them hand in hand to ensure that they do well because a strong AHTA is a strong Anguilla.
Long live the AHTA!
