THE VALLEY, ANGUILLA, November 3rd, 2015………The Hon. Cardigan Connor, Parliamentary Secretary with Responsibility for Tourism, Sports, Youth & Culture, led a delegation to attend the recent State of the Industry Conference (SOTIC), sponsored by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) from October 20 – 24, 2015, in Curaçao. Members of the delegation included Donna A. Banks, Chairperson of the Anguilla Tourist Board (ATB); Chantelle Richardson, Deputy Director Marketing, Alison Ross, representing the Anguilla Tourist Board in North America; Twyla Richardson-Thomas, Marketing Officer, and T’arah Niles, Anguilla’s representative to the Tourism Youth Congress.
At a press briefing hosted by CTO, Mr. Connor updated the Caribbean and international media on new resort and attractions developments in Anguilla’s tourism product, including the introduction of a late night shuttle service that will operate this winter from the Anguilla-St. Maarten ferry terminal on the Dutch side to Blowing Point ferry terminal in Anguilla. He went on to highlight Anguilla’s exciting 2016 roster of cultural and culinary events, from Festival del Mar through the Summer Festival. The briefing resulted in several articles in Recommend Magazine, Jax Fax, Travel Agent Central and Travel Press (Canada), among others.
The theme of the conference was “Caribbean Tourism – Growth Through Innovation”, with a roster of high profile speakers, led by Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue Airways, who delivered the keynote address. JetBlue now operates 159 flights a day into the Caribbean, and Hayes outlined plans to significantly expand JetBlue Getaways, which offers vacation packages and deals, building on the trusted JetBlue brand. He encouraged Caribbean leaders to consider the benefits of open skies, which allowed carriers such as JetBlue to emerge, and urged consideration of creative solutions to the disincentives to travel, mentioning in particular high taxes and airport congestion, especially around midday through the early afternoon.
A Leadership Panel discussed the need to introduce new ideas, diversify and differentiate product offerings, embrace sustainable development goals and do things differently in order for Caribbean tourism to remain globally competitive. The panel was comprised of World Tourism Organization (WTO) Director/Executive Secretary of Member Relations Carlos Vogeler; World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Vice-President of Government and Industry Affairs Helen Marano-Riley; CTO Chairman The Hon. Richard Sealy, Minister of Tourism for Barbados; Emil Lee, President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA); JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes; LIAT CEO David Evans; St. Eustatius Island Council Member and Progressive Labour Party (PLP) leader Clyde van Putten; Turks and Caicos Islands Premier Rufus Ewing and CTO Secretary General Hugh Riley.
A stimulating session on travel facilitation focused on how destinations can best navigate the delicate balance between safety and security and hospitality. Chris Thomson, CEO of Brand USA, highlighted the need to “Market the Welcome”. Destination marketers must deliver on the experience promised from the moment the visitor arrives, and that point of entry is usually the airport. Panelists urged Caribbean industry leaders to utilize and share technology to streamline and accelerate the arrivals process, along with better training for immigration, customs and security officers, to ensure a better understanding of their own role in the entire experience.
Tourism is an export. But it is not a physical product; it is an experience that persons take back home. Public and private sector industry leaders were challenged to collaborate on creating systems that would facilitate intra-regional travel for the benefit of both residents and visitors. The example of the Cari-Pass, designed for the Cricket World Cup, was cited as a successful initiative, which could form the basis of a more permanent solution to the necessity of growing business to the region.
The Tourism Youth Congress, under the theme “Caribbean Tourism Through the Eyes of Tomorrow” attracted the participation of Junior Tourism Ministers/Commissioners between the ages of 14 – 17 from fourteen CTO member countries. Anguilla’s representative, sixteen year old T’arah Niles from the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, delivered a spirited and passionate presentation on the topic of Film Induced Tourism, highlighting Anguilla’s Fountain Cavern and Sandy Island as the ideal locations for potential film producers and investors. Her presentation was enthusiastically received by the audience, although she did not in the end, attain the top spot.
Prior to the start of the conference, The Anguilla representatives attended a series of CTO business meetings, addressing the state of the organization. The CTO State of the Industry Conference is the pre-eminent tourism gathering in the region. It brings together tourism decision-makers, including ministers, commissioners and directors of tourism, hotel and airline executives, travel agents, students, the media and persons directly and indirectly involved in tourism.
This year’s conference, which attracted over 300 delegates, was organized in collaboration with Curaçao’s Ministry of Economic Development and the Curaçao Tourism Board, with support from the UNWTO and the WTTC.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
