The Valley, Anguilla, May 24, 2016…..The Anguilla Tourist Board hosted three groups of representatives from leading wholesalers and travel agencies from the United States, Puerto Rico and Columbia on site inspection tours of Anguilla this month.
Twelve representatives from the following tour companies participated in the US based Anguilla fam: Expedia, Booking.com, Travel Impressions, MLT/Delta Vacations, GTA and Tourico. The group was comprised of partners who are already selling Anguilla, as well as new operators who were being introduced to the island for the first time.
The new Caribbean buyer for Travel Impressions and their marketing director were visiting Anguilla for the first time, while MLT/Delta Vacations’ buyer was able to see the new hotels and inspect properties she hadn’t seen for some time. She also brought the marketing director to discuss ways in which to better position Anguilla utilizing their Delta service into St. Maarten.
The full Caribbean buying teams from both Expedia and booking.com had the chance to experience the island and visit hotels, sample a variety of restaurants and gain first hand knowledge of what makes Anguilla special and unique. The ATB created opportunities for the hoteliers to meet with the industry’s two leading OTA’s and the new wholesale buyers to learn about their business model and how they might benefit and sell more rooms, and some hotels did take advantage of this unique opportunity.
“A critical component of our trade relations strategy involves expanding the portfolio of our existing operators, and bringing new partners to the destination,” said ATB Chairperson Donna Banks. “These fam trips were originally planned as a pre-tour to SMART, and we are heartened by the fact that despite the cancelation of that show, they all kept their schedule to Anguilla,” she continued.
The following representatives participated on the Anguilla fam tour: Carlo Chancelien,
Hotels Account Manager, Booking.com; Howard Mayorga Area Manager – Caribbean, Booking.com; Sarah Aziz Alaoui, Hotels Account Manager, Booking.com; Minu Thawani, Associate Market Manager, Expedia; Kristi Miller, Area Manager, Expedia; Steven Landau, Market Associate, Expedia; Milena Tuani Fexina Galvao, Extranet Support Coordinator, GTA; Susan Crea-Tighe, Product Manager, MLT/Delta Vacations; Ashley Parden, MLT Partnership Marketing, MLT/Delta Vacations; Krystle Hartmann, Product Development, Travel impressions; Krystal Hendricks, Associate Director of Corporate Marketing, Travel impressions; Rose Gonzalez, Director of Caribbean, Tourico. The group was accompanied by Jill Ackerman, Trade Relations Consultant, Anguilla Tourist Board, North America.
The ATB also hosted a travel agent trip from Puerto Rico, coordinated and sponsored by Seaborne Airlines and A & A Tours Tour Operator, to promote the direct flights from San Juan to Anguilla. Seaborne offers three weekly direct flights into Anguilla, and A & A Tours Tour Operator is the local partner who services more than 250 agencies. The ATB is advertising Anguilla in El Nuevo Dia Sunday travel section with special hotel rates for residents of Puerto Rico, combined with a special Seaborne rate that will run throughout the summer.
The ad presents the broad variety of accommodations that Anguilla offers Puerto Ricans, from the luxurious to the Charming Escapes Collection. The trip was designed to showcase the properties and familiarize the travel agents with the hotels featured in this weekly promotion, to help them sell the product. The hotels are Viceroy, CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa, Malliouhana, an Auberge Resort, Zemi Beach House, Cap Juluca Resort, Paradise Cove Hotel, Anguilla Great House, Shoal Bay Villas, Carimar Beach Club and Frangipani Beach Resort.
The following agency representative participated: Rosa Fiel, Pangeas Travel; Cristina Soto, Magic Tours; Irma Zayas, Zayas Travel; Nanette Rivera, Travel Plus; Linny Serrano, Modern Travel; Mary Cruz,Tour Operator A&A Tours. The group was accompanied by Melanie Fernandez, Sales Manager, Seaborne Airlines and Raquel Echandi, Anguilla Tourist Board Latin America.
The third group of attendees participated in a Colombia fam, organized in conjunction with A Volar por el Mundo Tour Operator and COPA Airlines. When the ATB participated in the ANATO trade show in Bogotá, Colombia in February, they met with several tour operators that showed great interest in selling Anguilla. This was the case with A Volar por el Mundo, a Tour Operator with offices throughout the coffee growing cities in Colombia. This region holds great market potential because of direct access with COPA Airlines through Panama; and since it is located in the mountains, Anguilla’s beaches and fine dining are very appealing attractions for vacation getaways.
Participants included Lina Amaya, A Volor por el Mucho; Martha Echeverri, Aerorumbos; Dora Rojas, Freelance; Katherine Giraldo, Viajes Orbe; Alba Lopez, Tour Colombia, Manizales; Jackeline Rendón, Rosa de los Vientos; Gloria Munoz, Travel y Travel, Armenia; Luz Carrillo, Copa Airlines; Mario Blandon, Herenceia Verde, Armenia; Leidy Montes, SGO Travel; and Nicolas Diaz, Enamorate de Colombia, Rio Sucio.
For more information on Anguilla please visit the official website of the Anguilla Tourist Board: www.IvisitAnguilla.com; follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/AnguillaOfficial; Instagram: @Anguilla_Tourism; Twitter: @Anguilla_Trsm, Hashtag: #MyAnguilla .
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
