After having operated for many years at twinned offices with the Anguilla Tourist Board, the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association is now located in a three-story building at the South Hill Plaza, sharing space with other organisations.
A main advantage of AHTA’s new location is that is now closer to many of the properties in the tourism belt, offering much convenience for the various representatives to attend meetings and other functions rather than travelling to The Valley.
Mrs. Gilda Gumbs-Samuel is particularly delighted with the new location. She told The Anguillian newspaper: “The AHTA is now located at Lower South Hill, right past Nathalie on the left hand side of the road, going west, and not far from where Gerard’s Restaurant used to be. It is the building just before Properties in Paradise. As you travel west, I think there is a big sign with ‘Coming Soon’ and the other saying ‘Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association’ is on the second floor. There are three offices on that floor. The first is Calypso; the second is a beauty parlour; and the third, and most western one, is the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association.”
For a very long time, up to now, Mrs. Gumbs-Samuel, like her predecessors, has been the sole employee at the AHTA functioning in the role of Executive Director. Asked about carrying out that responsibility, she stated. “It is just me, myself and I. When Trudy Nixon left, for a short period we had a young lady who worked half days then she left and went to work at Digicel. I have been by myself since then for the past eleven years.”
She continued: “My understanding is that from the inception of the AHTA, the Tourist Board and the AHTA have always been together for a very short period. It was a natural thing for the two to work together. As you know, there are three figures of tourism in Anguilla. There is the Ministry of Tourism which leads; there is the Tourist Board which is responsible for the marketing of the entire island; and the Hotel and Tourism Association. Our role basically is advocacy, and it is also up to us to make certain that the staff at the hotels are trained – as well as go out to the schools. There is whole lot, I think, we need to do but do not. The reason for that is basically finance.”
The AHTA Executive Director made the point that while there were several ways in which the organisation can assist its members, she stressed that the members “need to step up to the plate” in terms of paying their membership dues, some of whom are not doing so.
Mrs. Gumbs–Samuel is hoping that one day soon there will be an additional employee at the AHTA to assist with the work load there – or eventually to take over from her.
