In a concerted effort to bring potential visitors and travel agents up to speed with the welcoming image of Anguilla after the onslaught of Hurricane Irma, officials of the Anguilla Tourist Board (ATB) on Wednesday October 25th ambitiously launched an interim website pending the launch of a revised official site which is due to take place this coming December.
The site, irma.ivisitanguilla.com, depicts the current status of the island as a hospitable destination considering the adverse affects of the horrendous hurricane on the hospitality industry. Its main purpose is to give an updated progress report on post-Irma Anguilla and to indicate to the would-be traveler that indeed Anguilla is open and ready for the business of welcoming potential visitors to its shores.
The website was developed by input from Mrs. Shellya Webster, ATB’s Manager of Corporate Affairs, along with Mrs. Chantelle Richardson, Deputy Director with responsibility for Marketing and Ms. Natasha Richardson, Destination Experience Manager. The actual development of the site was ably executed by Mr. Gino Webster, ATB’s Webmaster.
According to Mrs. Webster, the website is a post-Irma landing page that shows updates of the tourism product of Anguilla. It gives the traveler and all stakeholders involved in tourism pertinent information on such concerns as utilities and the status of essential services. She highlighted some of the areas that these updates cover. These sectors include: utilities, national and community-based development, the banking sector, post office services and communications, the work of UNICEF as a relief agent, the state of schools, and the status of safety and health care.
“We also have our Adopt a Project page,” Mrs. Webster said. “This is a page where we feature different projects on the island to which our potential guests and visitors may have an opportunity to contribute.” She mentioned that some of these projects include: the rebuilding of the Adrian T. Hazel Primary School, the Arijah Children’s Foundation, the Miriam Gumbs Senior Citizen’s Home and the Tender Loving Care Senior Citizen’s Home.
In explaining the page relative to access, Mrs. Chantelle Richardson noted that the ATB conducted an incentive communication outreach to all the industry stakeholders, including the agents and operators for access and transportation. She said that the ATB was able to gather information from those transportation companies that are currently in operation. Information was also gathered in relation to the point of entry for Anguilla relative to St. Maarten, where the ferries would berth at the police station dock in Simpson Bay to transport guests to Anguilla. She stated that information was also obtained from several hotels and restaurants pertaining to opening dates and available room counts. She noted that all such info was relayed to international concerns and submitted to the ATB’s various reps in the respective overseas markets.
Ms. Natasha Richardson emphasized the fact that indeed Anguilla is open for tourism business for the potential traveler, though in general we have all been affected by challenges in one way or another in the wake of Hurricane Irma. She said the ATB is dedicated to promoting the various properties that are pushing to reopen for this season. She stressed that the ATB is committed to offer such affected resorts all the necessary promotional support that they need, and that is why the experience page on the website was created. With regard to her specific responsibility, she noted that the ATB is keeping focus on the potential guest experience in Anguilla, making sure that such experience is not tainted in anyway. She stated that in order to do so, the ATB has been in liaison with the various properties to find out what the potential visitors’ concerns and inquiries are. She appealed to all properties and stakeholders to furnish the ATB with all information that would be useful for further updates.
It is to be noted that the website irma.ivisitanguilla.com is an ongoing project during this phase of the post-hurricane hospitality operations. All stakeholders and industry partners who have pertinent information to share concerning their tourism product or services, or anyone who possesses any relevant information concerning the local tourism industry at this time is encouraged to get in contact with the Anguilla Tourist Board at atbtour@anguillanet.com or by calling 1-264-497-2759. Let’s remember that “tourism is key” and “tourism is everybody’s business”.
