Of all the travel trade shows the Anguilla Tourist Board has attended, World Travel Market in Brazil was the best, and perhaps, the most fruitful. This is according to Mrs. Shellya Rogers-Webster, Manager of Corporate Affairs.
The April 1-4 event has had every reason to be so described because the Southern American market is Anguilla’s second largest major investment market after the United States where most of the island’s scant marketing budget is being spent. As a consequence, every effort is being made to ensure that the island gets the best value in the South American market for its money.
The official Anguilla delegation to World Travel Market comprised the Parliamentary Secretary with responsibility for tourism, Mr. Cardigan Connor; Chairperson of the Tourist Board, Mrs. Donna Banks; and the Manager of Corporate Affairs, Mrs. Shellya Rogers-Webster. They also attended extensive work meetings in Brazil and went on to Argentina for similar meetings.
“I have been to a number of trade shows and this has been the best one. Both the Chairperson and I agree that this was definitely one of the most fruitful trade shows that we have been to,” Mrs. Rogers-Webster told The Anguillian newspaper. “This was so for a number of reasons: the quality of the agents and tour operators who were at the trade show was very strong; they were people interested in selling the Caribbean and had sold the region before, and really serious about the destination; then there was the whole set-up of the trade show. In addition, it was possible to book appointments with various tour operators and travel agents. There was also speed dating where different companies were at small booths and you could speak with them for about five to ten minutes. That assisted in providing us with a small window of opportunity to create awareness and buzz about Anguilla.
“For example, we went to the Ford Company, based in South America, and said: ‘Anguilla is a small Caribbean island that offers amazing incentive travel for persons in your company whom you may want to take on an incentive travel vacation. These are the product offerings and diversity we have.’ We did that with a number of different companies, and so this helped us in our awareness of Anguilla. There were some people who had never heard about Anguilla as a destination before.
“There were a lot of other people there who perceived Anguilla as just a super exclusive luxury destination only for the rich and famous. We were able to dispel that. Yes, Anguilla is a very high-end destination and we have a very good product in terms of resorts; but Anguilla also has a very good offering of smaller mid-market charming escape properties. Some of them are on the beach and a lot of them are offering a wonderful traditional Anguillian experience and other delights. But there are also villa properties that are secluded and great for families. So there is a wide variety of accommodations on Anguilla.
“What is consistent, and what everybody can receive, is the Anguilla experience. Everybody can visit the beaches; experience the restaurants; but then you can decide which accommodation sector you prefer and to pay for. Anguilla is accessible to anybody, and we are trying to get that message out there.”
The Anguilla Tourist Board’s Corporate Affairs Manager continued: “While we were in the South American market, the key thing for us was to talk to people; see what their perception of Anguilla was; see what the Anguilla Tourist Board needs to do to change that perception; and also to build and create strong relationships with them. More than ever before, we are going to be in the market and will be having events including informational dinners. One of the very important things is for persons to know about the destination; and to understand how to get to Anguilla – thus dispelling the myth that Anguilla is a very difficult place to get to. Really, and truly, in the grand scheme of things it is not; so nobody has to be out there expressing this.
“It was important for us to communicate to people in the South American market about access to Anguilla. There are two major access routes to get from South America. You can take COPA Airlines [a great offering] to Panama from any other Southern American country; and from Panama to St. Maarten; then to Anguilla either by boat or aircraft. You can also take American Airlines into Miami – then to St. Maarten and to Anguilla; or you can take COPA Airlines into San Juan – and Anguilla by Seaborne. There are many different options to travel to Anguilla so it was very important for us to explain that.
“In Brazil, at World Travel Market, there were Mrs. Banks, Mr. Connor and I. It was important for all of us to be there because it is very important for all the decision-makers to understand the complexities that exist in the market…The good thing about Brazil is that although it is Portuguese, the majority of the people we interacted with are bilingual so they speak English very fluently and we didn’t feel alienated. We felt very comfortable communicating with them and they felt comfortable communicating with us and we were able to understand what the Brazilian market means to us, to learn about the people and interact with them.
“One of the big things for the Brazil market is that its people are late eaters so we have to make sure that we can address our experience to offer later dining. They are people who enjoy festivals and other events, and so we are trying to attract them for events like Festival Del Mar, the Summer Festival and Moonsplash. They like to be engaged and party. These are things you learn about people when you are interacting with them. So, for me, that was critical in Brazil.
“We were also able to have an opportunity to sit with our representatives and hear and see how passionate they are about Anguilla, and you can only do that if you are physically there. We also had an opportunity to plan the activities for the duration of the entire year – activities based in Anguilla, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia. We were at World Travel Market but at the same time, one of our team members, Colwayne Pickering, was in Colombia doing road shows. So we, at the Anguilla Tourist Board, are really trying our best to be as aggressive as possible; to learn and understand the markets; and to know what we need to do differently to cater to every market.”
Mrs. Rogers-Webster further stated: “This trip was a very important one for us in terms of gathering knowledge; building relationships and networking. We have a plan of action for the South American market and we are going to execute it. It is going to be a combination of a strong social media presence which is very important for that particular market.
“The Brazilian people are engulfed in social media and so we are upping our social media specifically for that market. We are going to have our postings in Portuguese to make our information more user friendly for them. In addition, we will be doing our road shows – at least once a year. Argentina and Colombia will have their road shows sometime in August. We are a small destination so Anguilla needs to make an impactful presence. Our tourism budget is way lower than the average strong tourism destination, so we really have to make sure that we get value for our money.”
Mrs. Rogers-Webster was not in a position, at the moment, to say how much money was earmarked for the South American market, but she pointed out that it was the second largest market investment by the Anguilla Tourist Board.
“It is not necessarily the second in terms of numbers, but we see the potential,” she added. “These people enjoy travelling; they don’t have the restrictions they had before, so they don’t need visas to come to Anguilla. That was one thing they were worried about in the past. These issues no longer exist. They can enjoy the destination – and these are people who travel at the last minute and tend to stay for long periods. Based on their labour laws they have a lot of vacation time.”
Further information about Anguilla’s growing South American market will be available later on as it progresses.
