The Anguilla Tourist Board will carry out its duties in 2013 within the context of the island’s 10-year Sustainable Tourism Master Plan, working closely with its key strategic partners, the Ministry of Tourism and the Anguilla Hotel & Tourism Association to achieve its objectives for 2013 and beyond.
We are ready to move in a new direction, recognizing that “Tourism is Key” for the economic success of the island. 2013 promises to be a year of continued growth, despite the slowdown experienced in the middle half of 2012, and the budgetary constraints under which we have had to operate over the past three years, which prompted our decision to curtail or significantly reduce some of our initiatives in the marketplace, and on-island. Indeed, we are heartened by a recent preliminary report from the ECCB which states that according to data for the period January to September, 2012, stay-over visitors increased by 23.7 per cent over the corresponding period of 2011.The Board is committed to re-directing our marketing strategies to boost our presence in the highly competitive marketing arena. It is the Board’s position, however, that a proactive approach must be made to aggressively take back Anguilla’s share of the market. This will require more targeted market activities, greater market segmentation and the ability to identify the niche markets that will work best for Anguilla’s brand and product.
With the island poised for positive growth, we have identified among our objectives the need to raise the profile of the destination within the marketplace through product development, human resource development and the commitment to high standards of quality in service. Where applicable, legislative means will be utilized to ensure that necessary standards are designed, implemented and upheld.The importance of managing these aspects of the visitor’s service experience cannot be over-stated, as this will help to generate the desired level of customer delight that leads to the desire for repeat visitation, which in turn translates into the return on investment necessary to significantly impact economic growth for Anguilla.
While we recognise that the development and enhancement of the island’s tourism product is a key factor in achieving success in the competitive global tourism arena, we are also cognizant of the fact that no matter how good your product is, or how great your service might be – if people don’t know that you are there, they will never come. Initiatives that the Anguilla Tourist Board will be focusing on throughout the year to raise awareness of Anguilla in the marketplace include on-going trade and consumer awareness initiatives, advertising in selected publications, an increase in our public relations outreach, market expansion initiatives, festivals and events promotion, public awareness and training initiatives, and co-operative marketing activities with industry partners in the various markets and on island.
The Board’s direction for 2013 will also be guided largely by the most critical factor affecting our ability to achieve success in Tourism, and that is the issue of air access.Given the problems that are plaguing our industry as a result of the loss of airlift into Anguilla from one of its key hub markets, San Juan, we will work closely with the Ministry of Tourism to forge new relationships with key airline companies to improve access into Anguilla not only from St Maarten, but also from other nearby hub islands including St Kitts and St Thomas.We will also continue to explore creative ways to enhance the visitor transfer and arrival experience into Anguilla, whether by air, through the Clayton J Lloyd International airport, or by sea, through the newly-opened Anguilla-St Maarten Ferry Terminal and the Blowing Point Ferry Terminal.
