April 7,2014
Communique to the Anguilla Tourist Board and the Director of Tourism
Dear Mr. Macdonna
I wrote to you in October 2013 outlining my disappointment with the Board and Director for their failure to execute a strategy which took account of the Sustainable Tourism Master Plan.
I wrote to you again on the 4th February 2014 noting that I was extremely unhappy about a lack of co-ordination and cooperation between my Ministry and the ATB, and that I was extremely concerned to hear reports of thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money being spent in a manner which I am confident most Anguillans would not countenance.
I directed on the 4th February in my letter to you that the ATB budget is to be suspended with immediate effect, and will remain suspended until I received and authorised a strategic marketing plan for 2014 by the 14th February 2014 incorporating all of the initiatives as laid out in my letter to the Board of October 2013, yet, as I understand it, the Secretary of the ATB Board as recently as Monday convened a meeting without informing the Chairman of the Board and at that meeting the Board agreed expenditure outside of my direction of the 4th February.
I noted that my Ministers, my Parliamentary Secretary and I have decided that to safeguard taxpayer’s funds, and to ensure that every dollar is spent on initiatives that directly benefit the people of Anguilla, we will take a very hands-on approach on the affairs of the ATB in 2014.
By 1 April 2014, I had yet to receive the annual marketing strategy of the ATB for 2014, as outlined in my letter of the 4th February. As director and board of the Anguilla Tourist Board, you must be aware that under the Tourism Board Act it notes the following:
“The Minister may in writing require the Board to provide him advice, recommendations. information and assistance in such form as he may consider appropriate concerning matters which fall within the powers and function and duties of the Board.
I find this situation to be quite intolerable, and I suspect that the Anguillan public would similarly find the situation unacceptable.
As a public body tasked with stewardship of EC $9.2million conveyed as subvention of the Ministry of Finance, these funds represent hard earned collections from the people of Anguilla and as Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism our government has a vested interest to ensure that these funds are spent judiciously over a 12 month period.
It is therefore incomprehensible that the request for a strategic document detailing how the ATB’s funds would be spent from Jan 2014 has taken the ATB organisation nearly four months into the year to be delivered to my office – hence in my view a very grave situation that none existed previously.
A marketing strategy should be one of the key standard operating governing documents of any legally formally constituted public institution, particularly one tasked with promoting the island.
It should, in addition to a 1 year operational/business plan and a 3-5 year operational/business strategy, be formulated, agreed, and passed by the board before the beginning of the financial year.
Again, I reiterate my conclusions that the delay from the ATB in being able to immediately produce such a document upon request means that that process did not occur and I’m therefore highly concerned about the work of the Director of the ATB, and the direction and Governance of the ATB as a steward of $9.2million of public funds.
As Minister for Tourism and the ultimate steward of public funds I find this situation grossly unacceptable.
The delay on this document and my conclusion that none existed is but one of a plethora of issues plaguing this organisation and which I am resolute to rectify with immediate effect. In addition to the issues related to production of the strategic plan, I again find myself in the position of now having to issue yet more directions for the functioning of this organisation. I therefore issue the following directions:
Marketing and other Operational Documents
I expect to receive the following documents immediately;
a . 1 year operational/business plan for the ATB for 2014
b. 3-5 year operational/business plan for the ATB for 2014
c. 1 year operational/marketing plan for each territory engaged by the ATB, North America, Canada, South America, UK & Germany.
These should be delivered hard copy to my secretary Sourisa Webster and via email to both my Parliamentary Secretary Haydn Hughes and my adviser Patrick Hanley.
While I await these documents. Firstly that there shall be NO expenditure outside of salaries and office running costs, until I receive, and sign off the ATB 2014 Marketing budget.
In the interim if there are any requirements for expenditure outside of salaries and office running costs including the dispersal of contractual obligations or other requests, they shall be put in writing to the members of Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation (TIR) who will provide me with a recommendation as to whether or not that expenditure is deemed appropriate or not, and I will make a ruling on the said expenditure.
1) Blowing Point terminal branding,
All production on the Blowing Point sign board should be halted immediately.
As you know we have engaged the Britto Agency to develop a new Brand Identity for Anguilla. This process is about to begin imminently. Therefore it is not judicious of the board to spend the proposed $16,000 on a welcome sign under the existing brand given that the Oversight Committee (TIR) and my Parliamentary Secretary have clearly stated that we are unhappy with the current state of the tourism brand.
2) Sponsorship of initiatives for 2014,
There is to be no expenditure on any new sponsorship, without the Ministry’s authorisation. All existing sponsorship arrangements must be shared with my ministry immediately.
I expected to have received the marketing strategy of the ATB by February 2014 and within that I would have expected a clear and transparent policy for how the ATB will sponsor local initiatives for 2014 with the relevant budget set aside. I have never seen the sponsorship policy of the ATB. The credible information that has so far reached me is indicative that sponsorship seems to be adhoc, rarely lied to any clear return on investment, and seems to be tied to ATB’s existing suppliers. I cannot allow this to be the perception of my Ministry; therefore until I authorize and sign off the ATB’ s 2014 marketing strategy, all sponsorship of local, national and international initiatives is suspended. If there are any requests they shall be made in writing as detailed above to the Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation (TIR) via my advisor Patrick Hanley. I expect a copy of the ATB’s sponsorship policy on my desk.
3) External Representation of Anguilla internationally
Hierarchy of accountability Ministry of Tourism, Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation (TIR), Britto Agency and the ATB
For the avoidance of doubt, for all major international and national events such as the Literary Festival, Festival Del Mar, Moonsplash, summer Carnival etc, the Britto Agency as Global Brand and PR consultant and the Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation (TIR)under my direction will have oversight on each event, I expect full cooperation and co-ordination with both the Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation (TIR) and the Britto Agency at all times and for the ATB and its officers within the organisation to respond to requests for information within 48 hours at all times unless the information is already at hand in which case it must be communicated immediately
1. I laid out clearly to the ATB in our meeting of the 29th January 2014 the hierarchy of responsibility between the Ministry, the Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation (TIR), the Britto Agency, international representatives and the ATB. In my letter to the ATB on the 4th February I reiterated that structure, however there has been clear resistance by the Secretary of the Board and members of the board to my views.
ii. So for the avoidance of doubt let me be clear.
1. As with all ATB initiatives I’ m concerned that we need to see extremely good value for money for every national and international initiative.
2. As Minister of Tourism the Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation (TIR) represents my interests and provides me with recommendations on the day-to-day issues within its portfolio.
3. The Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation (TIR) and Parliamentary Secretary Haydn Hughes & my Advisor Patrick Hanley represent my interests and act on my behalf.
4. The Britto Agency has been engaged by the Ministry of Tourism to manage Anguilla’s global brand and global PR and is accountable to the Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation(TIR) and ultimately me as the Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism.
5. At all times either the Britto Agency, the Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation(TIR) or the Parliamentary Secretary may requ est information, of the ATB & may engage in discussion with the ATB on initiatives.
6. The Britto Agency will also be engaged in the tactical and logistical detail of initiatives with the ATB and the ATB representative agencies will be expected to co-ordinate with and feed into discussions about Anguilla’s global brand and positioning with the Britto Agency. Any directions to the ATB can only come from the Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation (TIR), my Parliamentary Secretary, and in the final instance myself.
4) CTO
The execution of CTO for 2014 will be the full responsibility of the Britto Agency.
i. I received some incredibly disturbing reports and photographs from my Parliamentary Secretary Haydn Hughes about the manner in which Anguilla was represented at the CTO last year.
ii. This has been followed by equally disturbing reports from our Global Brand Consultant the Britto Agency on the standard of the ATB’s representation at the New York Times Show recently.
iii. I have been incredibly disturbed by these reports and pictures primarily because the North American market is such a key market for Anguilla
iv. I am frustrated that the representation by the CAM team appeared to be substandard. The reports of both CTO and the NY times have notified me of a very shoddy and unprofessional stand.
v. I’m further concerned that CAM submitted expenses of $25,000 for hotels, meals, and a per diem of $650 per day tor the week of CTO on top of the agency’s monthly retainer of $22,000 to simply accompany the Government of Anguilla to CTO.
That meant that in one month CAM was able to bill Anguilla $47,0000. I cannot countenance expenditure of this nature. $25,000 is an annual salary for an Anguillan.
In these times of extreme hardship in Anguilla it is simply not feasible for an agency to outlay this level of expenditure ancl unacceptable for an arm of Government the ATB to sign this off. As the Britto Agency who will execute CTO in 2014 is based in New York this will represent an immediate saving of $20-25,000 on not paying for hotels and a daily per diem. Those hard fought tax payers’ funds can be now used on direct promotion for Anguilla.
vi. I am also further disturbed that neither the Ministry nor myself were informed or allowed to consider the appropriateness of the CAM agency representing a competing destination and interestingly evident at the New York Times Show. Therefore reports that the CAM team was split in its representation between Anguilla and Costa Rica is wholly unsatisfactory to me and I intend to address this as a separate issue.
5) Branding
The Britto Agency’s role in undertaking branding for Anguilla has already been sanctioned through Executive Council and subsequently ATB should have allocated the funding for this purpose. It is therefore my directive that the required funding be remitted to the Britto Agency to enable the brand team to immediately commence its work.
The budget for branding as submitted in the proposal to the Oversight Committee for Tourism and International Representation(TIR) will be fenced in the ATB’s budget.
6) North America Marketing
As Cheryl Andrews Marketing has now been in post for 12 months my ministry requires a report of the agencies’ activities for the last 12 months and proposed activities for the next 12 months CAM is to be instructed not to conduct any further new initiatives and to provide a status report including financial implications on any current initiatives.
I continue to be disturbed by costs attributed to the North America team Tim Grace and Cheryl Andrews. For example I am lead to understand that the ATB authorised expenditure of over $12,000 US on the production of a PowerPoint presentation for use at trade fairs. I am at a loss as to why the ATB would feel that this is a wise use of public money when I am confident that other elements of Government have the capacity to produce such material at little or no cost to government at all.
a. In addition I’m led to understand that on initial review there are a series of anomalies in the invoicing.
b. I am disappointed to understand that the ATB came to a contractual arrangement with CAM and Tim Grace to pay each individual team member a per diem of $650 us dollars a day on top of their agreed retainer and on top of expenses for hotels and subsistence when they are not based at their office in Florida. You should note that this amount is the more than the weekly salary of the average Anguillan. As CAM is based in Florida and work often takes place outside of Florida it has meant that with Hotels and travel the ATB is often paying CAM an additional $1000 us per day just to represent Anguilla on top of the agreed $22000K retainer per month.
c. This clearly explains why as I understand it in one month CAM submitted invoices of nearly US $60,000K. Over the 2 year period if this continues then CAM could be paid a total of $1,400,000 which is nearly three times over the budget that my ministry agreed on CAM’s appointment.
d. I understand that additionally the new ATB board Chaired by Mr. McDonna expressed concerns about this arrangement and has passed and agreed a lesser rate of $250 per day with CAM, which the Director of the ATB was instructed to implement, but which disappointingly has yet to be fully implemented.
e. This is in complete contrast to the contract my Ministry negotiated with the Britto Agency which contains a limited expenses clause of which the Britto has yet to submit an expense.
f. I am even more concerned about this arrangement as I have yet to see the CAM deliver coverage in any internationally recognised high-quality media outlets, such as the New York Times Washington Post or CNN for example.
h. I understand the CAM is billing for an insurance policy that is not part of CAM’s contract to the tune of $10,000 per annum.
On behalf of the Anguillan people I cannot accept such a high level of expenditure for, as of today, an ill defined return, I have asked my ministry team to look in detail into these arrangements.
5) The ATB Annual Budget.
The ATB Annual Budget will be ring-fenced this year to execute events this year the Ministry of Tourism contracted with the Britto Agency to execute, as detailed in my letter to the board in October 2013. The sum reserved shalt be $500,000 US.
This is outside of sums reserved for Branding.
7) World Traveller Awards
It is my direction that the deposit for the World Traveller Awards ‘which has been agreed indeed by the ATB must be paid immediately.
TIME ALLOCATION FOR EXECUTION OF DIRECTIVES
In some of the directives you will have observed that I seek immediate compliance.
In all other directives I expect compliance within 24 hours of time and date of transmission of this communique.
I can assure you on this occasion that any any none compliance will be duly noted.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I am disappointed that the affairs of the ATB require this number of directives simply to ensure an orderly functioning of the ATB’s mandate and also to ensure effective accountability of tax-payers dollars for the management of our primary resource of tourism.
The fact that not withstanding my direction on suspension of the ATB budget until I was in receipt of the strategic plan and the fact that notwithstanding the same that expenditure was still occurring is in my view symptomatic of a continuous state of dysfunctional ism that has been existing within the organisation, and leading to my constant issuance of directions to create some semblance of order.
In light of the fact that the Government of Anguilla took vigilant steps to establish a greater form of structure and oversight by establishing the TIROC committee, I am no longer prepared, to countenance such dysfunctionalism within the ATB. As such I am taking immediate steps to create a new atmosphere of structure, order and accountability, within the tourism portfolio.
I will notify the Board and the Director of the steps I am taking in due course and trust that you can appreciate as the ultimate steward of the public funds, it is my duty on behalf of the people of Anguilla no matter how difficult the decision to act in the best interests of the people whom we are all here to serve.
Hubert Hughes
Chief Minister of Anguilla
Editor’s Note:
This letter, which came to the attention of The Anguillian, is published as it is of public interest. Its publication is also in view of the importance of tourism to the economy of Anguilla and the livelihood of its citizens.
