North Side, Anguilla (Tuesday, 21st January 2014) — As we begin a new year, we must think of innovative ways to encourage visitors and travel planners to choose Anguilla as their choice of destination in the Caribbean region. One such initiative is that the Anguilla Tourist Board has returned to utilising the former branding slogan that we used for so many years. “Tranquillity Wrapped in Blue” is certainly how many of us feel about this special place that we call Da Rock. We certainly hope that using the word tranquillity will help us to better promote and market our island’s unique tourism sector, and increase the number of visitors for 2014 and forward.
Tranquillity and peacefulness are what I think of when I describe Anguilla to family and friends who live abroad. In spite of the political circus, gun violence and other ills of humanity that our community is susceptible to encountering, we have an air of calm that doesn’t pervade everywhere or in every country. Perhaps this calmness along with the beauty of our island are the reasons why the official excursion organisers, Mr Roger Naber and Ms Yvonne Tharpes chose The Dune Preserve as one of the stops for the legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise.
When I spoke recently with renowned musician and entrepreneur, Bankie Banx, he told me that they estimate 300 guests will be at the Dune this week on Wednesday, 22nd January. He also said the famous band Taj Mahal might perform along with the Rhythm & Blues Cruise bands, Marquise Knox and Selwyn Birchwood.
Bankie and I were having a brief chat regarding this exciting Blues Cruise event at the KOOL 103.3 FM 2nd Annual Awards Presentation and Oldie Goldie Dinner held at Flavours Restaurant in La Vue Boutique Hotel on Saturday night, 18th January. I told Bankie that I’d read the press release published in The Anguillian on Friday, 17th January. We must express big kudos and heartfelt thanks to Brother Lee, otherwise known as Mr Leroy Richardson, for putting together a dynamic dinner affair to honour and acknowledge several individuals who have contributed to the building of the radio broadcasting media on Anguilla.
True to Bankie’s entertainment host character, he graciously invited me as a writer to come and see what the Blues Cruise day excursion event is all about. So God spare life, I plan to head on down to the Dune around midday on Wednesday and see who else turns up. A day at the beach on Rendezvous is a treat for anyone of us.
The Rhythm & Blues Cruise and KOOL 103.3 FM Awards ceremony are just two of the many events that can be organised to not only promote tourism to Anguilla, but also to support our locally owned businesses. Consequently, I would like to continue the conversation in this article to help us raise conscious awareness in our community for how we can best market Anguilla’s tourism product.
There will be some proposed suggestions made on what we can do to move us forward to stimulate and promote economic growth and development. Hopefully, these recommendations will inspire the young, middle aged and old to think of an infinite number of ways we can market Anguilla. I’m sure we have many more creative ideas to share. The following are just a few of the ones that I thought of or have heard other people discuss.
Marketing Anguilla as a place for small meetings, conferences and events
Why not look into marketing Anguilla as a setting for small business meetings, association conferences or special events like family reunions and heritage tours? There are a number of professional organisations in North America that we could solicit for planning their organisation’s events scheduling them at various outlets on our island.
Although we’re a small community with limited space, we can accommodate holding smaller meetings and celebrations at a variety of Anguillian owned and internationally operated places on island. We can easily facilitate meetings and activities spread out across several different locations. The smallness, shorter driving distances and less traffic congestion allow us to be hassle-free in providing timely transportation for guests from one venue to another.
To inspire us to explore our creative genius and uncover what we have to offer these groups, we’ll outline a few of the places on a short list of recommended venues that I’ve visited.
Intimate small boutique hotels
Dr Frankie Hughes and Mrs Sherille Hughes’ property, Paradise Cove Boutique Hotel, on the Cove Road in West End is an ideal venue for various events. This boutique hotel has a small conference room in addition to an outdoor setting surrounding a gorgeous pool. Paradise Cove provides a lovely tropical setting under the sun or starry night where tents, tables, seating and buffet stations can be ideally placed. The venue has been utilised for the Anguilla Lit Fest as well as the Accreditation Canada Survey Visits for the Health Authority of Anguilla. There’s even a gazebo that can be used for wedding ceremonies or a book fair stall.
The industrious Hughes couple are also co-owners of Ultimacy Villa Retreat on the sea rocks overlooking the Atlantic Ocean situated between Shoal Bay East and Island Harbour. This enticing villa can be used as a writer’s retreat or for an intimate family gathering.
Then there’s Mr Kirk Hughes’ La Vue Boutique Hotel on Back Street in South Hill with a gorgeous view overlooking the boats moored in Road Bay and lively Sandy Ground village with its assortment of eateries, entertainment establishments, boutiques and art galleries. La Vue has an open space poolside where poetry readings are held under the night sky along with Ellen’s Conference Centre and Flavours Restaurant located upstairs, which can be booked for an assortment of events.
Local celebrities, like former cricketer Omari Banks and the Seven Band, have booked special events such as an album release party at Anacaona Boutique Hotel on Meads Bay. Anacaona is also host to the weekly performances of the Mayoumba Folkloric Theatre every Thursday night. Visitors and locals can wine, dine and sample a delicious West Indian buffet at the property’s Firefly Restaurant.
Luxurious resort properties and elegant villas
For those whose tastes prefer elegance and luxury combined, we have the ultra cool and modern Moderna Villa on the Cove Road and Viceroy Anguilla Resort in the West End, along with Spyglass Hill Villa on Shannon Road (The Point) in North Hill. Our very own Dominica/Montserrat transplanted, premier architectural designer-developer, Ian ‘Sugar George’ Edwards, along with the Sunset Homes team designed and built this exquisite 3-bedroom villa. Spyglass Hill has an excellent open-concept space for entertaining and holding receptions like the November 2013 launch of our newest island guide, True Anguilla.
Both Viceroy and Spyglass Hill have amazingly spectacular infinity pools. The one at the resort overlooks vast expanses of the ocean. The other at the villa gives a bird’s eye view of Sandy Ground salt pond and village as well as Road Bay.
CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa, which truly captures the white washed Greek style of residences on the island of Mykonos, has much to offer. There’s an outdoor space near the reception building of the resort’s main property and also on the tee greens at the golf course, which can be utilised for music entertainment events such as the Anguilla Jazz Festival. CuisinArt has three restaurants on the property with two near the poolside. All of them offer fine dining and healthy eating with fresh vegetables from the resort’s hydroponic gardens. Enjoy a delicious meal at Anguilla’s only AAA four Diamond restaurant Le Bistro at Santorini. For sushi lovers, there’s Tokyo Bay with a panoramic view of Rendezvous Bay.
Bed, breakfast ands other places
The brother and sister duo, Mr David Lloyd and Mrs Vida Lloyd-Richardson, manage the family owned Lloyd’s Bed & Breakfast on Crocus Hill. This unique accommodation is a great spot for a mini-family reunion in a quaint and historic setting that makes visitors feels like they’re staying in a family home. Lloyd’s Bed & Breakfast is located a short walking distance of three minutes down a steep hilly road for exploring Crocus Bay. You can swim, catch a small boat to Little Bay, walk the beach finding fossils and shells or dine for lunch at Da’Vida’s Bayside Grill.
Another venue for scheduling larger capacity special events is the Royale Caribbean Hotel on the Jeremiah Gumbs Highway. This large property owned by an Anguillian, Mr Quincy Gumbs, has a fairly huge, open space in doors that can be used for parties, birthdays or anniversary celebrations. I attended a fiftieth birthday party at the Royale Caribbean and found it was quite a nice set up for a large crowd of guests.
The ideas of how to utilise all of Anguilla’s properties are endless. We’ve given just a small sampling of the accommodations and venues that Anguilla has to offer for staying, dining and scheduling small business meetings, association conferences, family reunions, weddings, anniversary celebrations, spiritual retreats and friendly gatherings.
For more information, check out the listings in the new complimentary island guide True Anguilla or the older established guide What We Do in Anguilla. The guides give a galore of details on where to go, what to do, liming (partying), other activities, wedding and honeymoon destinations, and realising your dreams of purchasing property and living in Anguilla. Nobody has to be rich with loads of money to come to our island or even to live here. But everyone has to have a passion for life, and living the good life in paradise, in order to stay here or to keep coming back making repeat annual visits.
How can each one of us play a role in marketing Anguilla?
Be creative and think of ways that you too can help all of us promote and market tourism to Anguilla. Carry brochures and magazines like Design Anguilla with you when you travel to share with persons who you meet and who might be interested in vacationing or taking a holiday in the Caribbean. Submit your travel writings of Anguilla to regional and international magazines for publication.
With our combined efforts working together, we can encourage a few more visitors to visit Anguilla each month of the year. Then we may very well achieve our goal of Anguilla 44, 44 weeks of Christmas time full occupancy of guests in-house and full or part time employment for many local persons.
Most importantly, we must all be the instruments of change that we wish to envision and do whatever we can to move ourselves and Anguilla forward. May God continue to give us daily inspiration as we endeavour to create a sustainable tourism product that will benefit all a’ we on Anguilla!
Kay M. Ferguson served briefly in 2009 as Executive Director of the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association working along side the current ED Mrs Gilda Gumbs-Samuel and the AHTA Board of Directors to move the organisation forward. She is a Creative Professional Writer/Editor and an avid traveller who has visited and resided in many countries across the globe. Her first-hand knowledge as a tourist and host to many visitors inspires her to advocate for making tourism everybody’s business on Anguilla.
To link with Kay, call her mobile 1.264.476.8735 or US landline 1.206.388.4848. You can e-mail her at anguillawriter@gmail.com. Send an e-message via www.facebook.com/kaymferguson or www.linkedin.com/kay-m-ferguson. Tweet #@kaykayferguson.
