The Anguilla Hotel & Tourism Association’s 2018 Gala Awards Ceremony, which was slated for last November’s Tourism Week, was postponed to January due to some organizational difficulties. That being the case, the spectacular event was held on the evening, January 11th, at the newly commissioned Cuisinart Ballroom, with a great measure of pomp and ceremony, touting the new industry slogan: “Anguilla’s Beyond Extraordinary”.
It would seem that the 2017 passage of Hurricane Irma had carved a pivotal mark in our local history, and this carving evidently had a predominant impact upon our tourism industry, especially.
The massive hurricane caused the major resorts on the island to be severely crippled and closed but, providentially, not for long. Thanks to the diligence and determination of our local hoteliers and investors, as well as the loyalty, hard work and resilience of our hotels’ staff, we overcame the ravages and, like a phoenix out of the ashes, Anguilla’s tourism industry is back on course.
It was against this backdrop that noble awards were presented to the most dedicated hotels and employees who, over the past fifteen months, braved the hard ships associated with repairs and refurbishing in order to continue to be the mainstay of Anguilla’s tourism industry, and the wellspring of our economy. This first post-Irma awards gala, therefore, would have been, no doubt, the most remarkable one of the AHTA’s annual events.
The ceremony was chaired by radio personality, Ms. Lisa Countess Rey, assisted by Villa Manager, Ms. Patricia Bygrave. A befitting prayer was offered by Mr. Chris Richardson who thanked and beseeched God who is “our help in ages past and our hope for years to come; who is our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home.” Then, following the playing of the National Anthem, the National Song was rendered by Ms. Rebecca “Queen B” Webster.
The Executive Director of the AHTA, Mrs. Gilda Gumbs-Samuel, warmly welcomed the excited audience. She began: “Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Board of Directors and Secretariat of the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association, I extend a warm welcome to all for attending our Tourism Week Annual Gala Affair for 2018. This evening, in the tourism industry, we recognize and honor our superstars of the hospitality sector.
“I would like to acknowledge and recognize the presence of His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Timothy Foy, and Mrs. Foy; the Honorable Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism, Mr. Victor Banks and Mrs. Banks; Parliamentary Secretary with responsibility for Tourism and Sports, Mr. Cardigan Connor; Members of the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association Board of Directors; Members of the Anguilla Tourist Board; the esteemed media, awardees, guests, fellow tourism professionals, friends, ladies and gentlemen — a pleasant good evening.
“Our key words going forward this evening, as we strive to transform for success, are: partnership, positive involvement, collaboration, support and community. When we think of transforming for success, we realize that the precursor to this transformation is serious and honest self-reflection. Thus, we must examine our weaknesses and our strengths.”
On behalf of the Board of the AHTA, its members and its Secretariat, Mrs. Samuel thanked all the tourism professionals for joining together and moving collaboratively to ensure that Anguilla stands up to the mantra of being “beyond extraordinary.”
Addressing the audience, next, was the Parliamentary Secretary with responsibility for Tourism, Mr. Cardigan Connor. He emphasized the fact that there was a lot to celebrate: “Our winter season is off to an excellent start. We had a terrific festive season and our bookings going forward are quite encouraging. Our hotels and resorts, our restaurants and car rental agencies and our taxi operators, are all enjoying good business again.
“After what we have been through, last year has been a very challenging year, but we have staged a most remarkable comeback in the region. We have a tourism product, today, that is perhaps the best it has ever been. We have restored the confidence of our overseas partners who are sending their clients to us as tourists.
“We have maintained the confidence of our investors, welcoming two new luxury brands, Quintessence and the Belmond group. Besides, Tranquility Beach, a brand new resort development is positioned to open this year. Our villa sector, which kept us in business when many of our resorts were closed, is also flourishing. Long Bay Villas reopened under new management for the festive season, providing an ideal location for leisure, corporate and incentive clients.
“Our iconic restaurants, such as Mango’s, Blanchards, Davida’s and Veya, are all up and running. And we welcome new additions like Chef Mart, Alverez and Ember. Our favourite beach bars, like Elvis, Johnno’s, and the Dune Preserve, are once again the preferred hangouts for both visitors and locals alike.”
Mr. Connor gave a brief account of the progress which was made over the past months, to assure overseas tourist markets that Anguilla was available and open for business within a short period of time. He noted that by September of last year statistics showed the first increase in tourist arrivals, since the passage of Hurricane Irma.
“It was a spectacular increase,” he said, “one of over 400%, making it the third highest figure in tourist arrivals for any September month over the past 25 years.” He remarked that the outlook for travel remained bright, and there was no question that we were on a comeback.
The Coordinator of International Markets at the Anguilla Tourist Board, Mrs. Chantelle Richardson, spoke next: “It is a pleasure to be with you as we highlight and celebrate our various initiatives and accomplishments made over the past two years. We are truly thankful for the past festive season that was indeed beyond extraordinary.
“Though the official figures are not in as yet, we are confident that tourist arrivals for December 2018 will surpass the figures of December 2016, which was best December for Anguilla’s tourists’ arrivals on record. Our recovery, though not complete, has been remarkable and surely beyond extraordinary, and for that we are grateful.
“As a destination, we are grateful for the commitment and support of all of our industry stakeholders. We look forward to their continued support even as we encourage others to come on board — as we together endeavor to take Anguilla to an even greater place for the benefit of all.”
Mrs. Janine Edwards, Vice President of the AHTA then gave her resounding address: “I bring you greetings from our new and energized AHTA Board of Directors, and we look forward to great things on many levels in 2019. I want to also take a moment to thank our most recent past President, Delroy Lake, and our other immediately past committed Board members who, along with our dynamic Executive Director, have made significant personal investments over the years into passionate, selfless service to the AHTA and its membership.
“Distinguished guests, we want to go beyond simply embracing new ideas for 2019, and move into opening our minds to think within and outside new paradigms – collaborating in unusual ways – to get better results within our bread and butter industry, tourism. Only in adversity can we truly test the limits of our strength, and I stand proud today, having experienced first-hand how our tourism sector and community rose up from the wrath of Irma to be lauded internationally as the best rebounding island, post-hurricane, and as Travel and Leisure’s #1 Caribbean destination.
“In true traditional Anguillian style, we have dug deep – dug deep to refresh our Irma ravaged hotels, villas, restaurants, spas, vehicle rental agencies, charter services and other ancillary services. And, they are now better than before – truly beyond extraordinary… To complement and match this product, we need to keep the fire going to continue to tackle our challenges of access, a clean environment and customer service from point to point, from start to finish.
“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s tap into that GRIT, that resourcefulness, that rich collaboration and spirit that we rediscovered post-Irma and “power up” our hospitality and customer care to capture and retain the #1 spot in the hearts of our visitors.”
Awards that honored the work of tourism partners for the year were issued to hoteliers and to employees in the industry. These presentations included: the Best Airport Employee Award, presented to Ms. Jerecia Richardson, sponsored by Blue Sea; the Best Seaport Award, presented to the Staff and Management of the Blowing Point Seaport, sponsored by Blue Sea; the Allied Member of the Year Award, issued to Bob and Melinda Blanchard of Blanchard’s Restaurant, sponsored by Belmond CapJuluca; the Restaurant of the Year Award presented to Straw Hat Restaurant, and sponsored by Sunset Homes Anguilla.
The award presentations continued with the Villa Member of the Year Award, presented to Quintessence Villa/Boutique Hotel, sponsored by Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association; Entertainer of the Year Award was presented to Omalie 360, sponsored by Flow Anguilla; the Business Solution Award was presented to Malliouhana Hotel, and sponsored by Digicel Anguilla; the ICT Leadership Award was presented Government of Anguilla, sponsored by Digicel Anguilla; the Pioneer of the Year Award was issued to Britannia Idalia Gumbs and sponsored by the Anguilla Tourist Board; the Pioneer of the Year Award was presented to Eustace Guishard, and sponsored by Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association.
The Rising Star Award was presented to Mitchell Gumbs, employee of Belmond CapJuluca, and sponsored by Straw Hat Restaurant; the Employee of the Year Award was issued to Lisa Joseph of Zemi Beach House, sponsored by the AHTA and the ATB; the Supervisor of the Year Award was presented to Keedem Isaac of Four Seasons Hotel – Anguilla, and was Sponsored by the AHTA and the ATB; finally, the Hotel Recognition of the Year Award was presented to CuisinArt Resort and Residences, and was sponsored by Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association. Valuable and attractive prizes were also issued to lucky persons who held winning tickets.
The Anguillian sought to catch a word from His Excellency the Governor Tim Foy. He was evidently impressed with the ambiance of the gala, and appreciative of the recipients of the awards. He remarked: “It is a great pleasure to be here. Really, we are celebrating the return to where we were over fifteen months ago. We can push on now and really make 2019 and 2020 brilliant years. This is important for all of Anguilla, because these are jobs through which our people prosper. Tourism is the heartbeat of Anguilla, and it is thriving. I am more than impressed with the comeback after Irma.
“The key thing is that many of our investors could have decided to pull stops and call it quits. But they didn’t. They decided to stay with us — both the large ones and the small ones. I am grateful to them, and I salute them for their determination to stay. We can promise them a really good future in Anguilla.
“I have amazing respect for the AHTA and the Tourist Board. The Tourist Board does a vital job of promoting Anguilla as a destination product overseas. But we need to back those efforts up by the ease by which people can access Anguilla.”
The Honorable Chief Minister, and Minister of Tourism, Mr. Victor Banks also shared his impressions. He commented: “This is an excellent event, and indeed it is wonderful to be in the new and upgraded Cuisinart Ballroom. It shows that they have rebuilt bigger and better after the storm. I am very happy with the outcome of our efforts, both in the public and private sector. I am grateful for these investors who have stayed the course and did such a wonderful job in bringing us back in time for the tourist season.
“The Anguilla Tourist Board and the AHTA are doing a great job with promotions. We are giving them some more support in 2019, in terms of the budget, for reaching out to new markets.”
Music for the event was provided by the renowned and versatile Boss & The Horsepower Band who provided an entertaining evening of dance and gleeful celebration. The night was well spent by all those in attendance, and a comprehensive Vote of Thanks was issued by Ms. Gina Brooks, Tourism Planner in the Ministry of Tourism.
