There has been a big gathering of hospitality representatives in the public and private sector and scores of residents in celebration of the commencement of Tourism Week 2016. The series of activities, from November 26 to December 3, was jointly organised by the Anguilla Tourist Board and the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association.
It has been perhaps one of the most discerning undertakings of its kind labelled Transforming Our Industry for Success Through Partnership and Community Engagement.
The opening event, The Valley Street Festival, attracted a mass crowd on the grounds of the Department of Agriculture on Saturday, November 26. In many respects it took on the appearance of a mass exhibition of food from Anguilla and other islands, music, art, craft, literary works, and tourism services – all geared at creating linkages between the community and visitors to the island.
Parliamentary Secretary, Tourism, Mr. Cardigan Connor, put the week-long celebration in perspective. “Tourism Week 2016 serves as a timely reminder, as we gear up for the winter season, of the importance of Anguilla’s tourism industry to our economy and our daily lives,” he told his listeners. “The fact is that every Anguillian is impacted in some way – whether directly or indirectly. We therefore have a stake in ensuring our success…Our success in marketing Anguilla as a premium quality destination depends on the two major principles of partnership and engagement. It is essential that we forge strong and enduring relationships with our private sector stakeholders. You are our best source of intelligence on our visitors; who they are; where they come from; what brings them to our island; what they do when they are here – and their recommendations for enhancing the visitor experience.”
Mr. Connor continued: “As we position our island in front our potential visitors in key overseas markets, we depend on your support for our marketing efforts. We share the same objective: to make Anguilla a premium quality destination that attracts a growing number of visitors to our hotels, villas, inns and guesthouses…
“The other imperative is the extent to which we can rally our community to embrace this industry. Today’s visitors are seeking authentic experiences well beyond resort gates. They want to immerse themselves in the local community and it is these unique and unexpected interactions that make a vacation a memorable experience. The ease with which this can be achieved in Anguilla, and the quality of these encounters, is what sets the Anguillian vacation experience apart from so many of our Caribbean competitors. Our visitors are here at our invitation. They are our guests and we should demonstrate to them that warm hospitality for which we are renowned. We should never confuse service with servitude. We are a proud people, and we are rightly proud of our country and what we have accomplished with limited natural resources. It is our choice to share our island with our visitors and there are mutual benefits to be gained by both parties.”
Chairperson of the Anguilla Tourist Board, Ms. Donna Banks, said in Part: “Tourism Week 2016 is not accidentally themed Transforming Our Tourism Industry for Success Through Partnership and Community Engagement. It is a full circle recognition of the important role the host community plays in successful tourism destinations. The host community is more than the friendly people of the destination. They are the ones for whom the industry was first and foremost created, and they are the ones who must also see themselves as an important part of the industry – and must see the industry as providing career and business opportunities for them.
“Today, in Anguilla, we are not at that place and we need to get there quickly. Destinations can no longer be marketed as a collection of hotels, restaurants, attractions and retail outlets to be successful in the marketplace…To be successful, the Anguilla Tourist Board and others must not only deliver remarkable physical experiences – for example luxury hotel rooms – but must also create and deliver a uniquely, compelling brand essence – that is the emotional connection that our visitors have with our brand and at each connecting point including our ferries, immigration, customs, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants etc.”
Ms. Banks went on: “One of the areas in which the Anguilla Tourist Board must play a more critical role is in delivering a community embraced tourism industry. The community cannot see itself outside of the tourism industry…We, the ATB, cannot simply be the tourism representatives – but we must also be tourism advocates. The conversation about the destination has to be extended well beyond the traditional stakeholders in the wider local community including residents, academics and governmental agencies…One of the core elements in the re-engineering of the Anguilla Tourist Board is the development of new partnerships including the local community. Our marketing must now turn inward…
“Central to everything and sustainability in tourism is the host community. We are eventually the deal breakers and therefore our attitude towards tourism must change from servitude to service. Our attitudes towards investments in the economy must be more of facilitation and respect rather than favour and right. We must demonstrate attitudes that recognise that we are all ambassadors and that our individual actions affect the overall image of the destination. We must demonstrate an attitude that also recognises and honours the role of small businesses in the overall development of the island. We must develop an attitude that preserves and fosters local investment in the tourism industry – and the wider economy – thereby assuring Anguillians a stake in the industry and the economy.”
The head of the Tourist Board further said: “Discerning and sophisticated travellers are the predominant visitors who come to Anguilla. The island is also targeting audiences who want memorable experiences that go beyond a bed, a beach and a restaurant. They are looking for an authentic Anguillian experience; to live like the locals live; to eat where we eat; party where we party; play the games we play and immerse in the uniqueness and richness of our culture.”
President of the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association, Mr. Delroy Lake, also spoke about the need for community engagement in the tourism industry. Among other things, he urged persons to use all forms of communication, particularly social media, to positively publicise the island as a tourism destination rather than to use it for negative publicity.
“We have the power of social media but, unfortunately, too many times, as a community and a people, we use social media for the wrong purposes,” he stressed. “Social media has become a gossip tool … The community can use social media to put a positive spin on Anguilla. You must remember that anything you put on Facebook has an opportunity to go half-way around the world. We therefore must use this and other forms of social media for positive means.”
Mr. Lake also took the opportunity to appeal to the community to keep Anguilla clean both in their own interest as well as for visitors.
The late evening ceremonial part of The Valley Street Festival was chaired by Mr. Foster Rogers, Permanent Secretary, Tourism. Other participants were Pastor Philip Gumbs of the Church of God (Holiness) who delivered the intercession; and Ms. Natasha Richardson, the recently-appointed Destination Experience Manager, who gave the Vote of Thanks.
