Parliamentary Secretary Tourism, Haydn Hughes, says that among the responsibilities he is tasked with is to “makeAnguillaas visible as possible on the international scene.”
He was at the time telling The Anguillian about some of the recent promotions of theisland in which he was engaged. “We have a number of vehicles inAnguillawe can use to accomplish that visibility,” he explained. “Of course, we have our ambassador, Miss Shara Proctor, but we also have a lot of musical talent and we have been tapping into that to highlightAnguillaaround the world.”
Mr. Hughes continued: “Recently, I met with the executives of Uptown Magazine and we were able to get ourAnguillian son, Raoul Vanterpool, better known as Nyne, and Crispin Brooks of Blue Symphony Music [and Rosell Media], to attend the Pre-Oscar event [in California] and Nyne actually performed – and it is up on the internet for all to view it. He produced a great album calledNyne Waysand one of his songs was number one in theUnited Kingdom. That tells you a lot of the talent we have inAnguilla.
“This does not only include the Panther Vibes and Exodus Bands, but also people like Raoul Vanterpool, Roxanne Webster (who was nominated for an award inCaliforniajust recently), Deanna Mussington, Raskin Brown and Qu Carty. There are a number of other artistes in Anguilla who we are trying to facilitate – in some sort of record deal – in order to take them andAnguillato the next level. We all know what Rihanna has done forBarbados.”
Mr. Hughes continued: “Just recently we have done the Real Housewives of Atlanta production and if you google that – even before you put in the name of Anguilla – you will see the pages and pages of press publicity that Anguilla has received out of that. So that is highlightingAnguillain 110 different countries, with over thirty million viewers – white, affluent, upper middle class and so forth. That is the kind of clientele that we are geared towards as well.
“There is also an aspirational traveller that we have been able to tap into.
“Over the next two weeks we will be embarking on a major production here inAnguilla. It will take into consideration some of the world’s best artistes. I will release more information as things become more concretised, but it is really highlightingAnguillaas a destination.
“Some of the other things that we have also been highlighting in the destination, which I think have largely gone unnoticed, includes Colville Petty’s museum which we have been using as a vehicle. In all of our ‘fam’ trips we have ensured that this integral part of our product is highlighted – so we are not only known for our beaches and so forth.Recently, we were blessed with an award as the world’s number one honeymoon destination – in June this year – and we were labelled as the culinary capital of the Caribbean on the front page of Uptown Magazine.”
The Parliament Secretary said that some two months ago he met Miss Marvet Britto of the Britto Agency inNew Yorkwho had since done a lot forAnguilla. “I was impressed with her wealth of knowledge and contacts – and out of that we have forged a relationship that has been able to bring quite a bit to Anguilla [including the Housewives of Atlanta production],” he said, adding: “I have some other exciting news that is right on the horizon.”
