With the coming reopening of Anguilla’s hotels in October and November, the island’s Tourist Board and its marketing representatives in various parts of the world, are gearing up for the 2018/2019 tourism season. A major part of that effort has been a Marketing Week of activities which began on Sunday, September 9, under the theme: “Transforming the Anguilla Experience Beyond the Extraordinary”.
Following a Divine Service at the Christian Fellowship Church, at Blowing Point, a welcome ceremony was held on the lawn at the Anguilla Tourist Board building in The Valley. The week-long event brought in Anguilla’s marketing representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy and the South America/Puerto Rico region. They were invited for meetings with officials in the Ministry of Tourism, the Tourist Board, the Hotel and Tourism Association, property owners and various other industry partners in the public and private sectors.
Corporate Affairs Manager at the Anguilla Tourist Board, Mrs. Shellya Rogers-Webster, told the gathering at the opening ceremony: “It is an absolute pleasure to welcome you to the Tourist Board’s Marketing Meeting 2018. As we dedicate ourselves to transforming the Anguilla experience, it is important to do so collaboratively, respectfully and genuinely. We must acknowledge and accept that the challenges are monumental, but we must also acknowledge that they are not unique to Anguilla. As such, we must remain committed to working together to enhance the tourism experience while encouraging and facilitating open dialogue between all industry partners.
“This is a time to get to know members of our team, celebrate our resilience in the wake of Hurricane Irma, and think about the journey ahead. I wish to thank you all for your dedication over the past year, and I look forward to your continued support of the Anguilla Tourist Board.”
Governor Tim Foy, OBE, stressed that tourism was the lifeblood of Anguilla and that every tourist who arrived on the island provided an income for somebody, either directly or indirectly, and was assisting in driving the economy forward. He said one only had to see what the effects of Hurricane Irma had, in terms of livelihoods and Government revenues, to understand the importance of tourism to Anguilla. According to him, there was a need to make the industry more resilient and stronger given its fundamental importance to the island’s future.
The Governor commended the Tourist Board for its work in transforming the marketing of Anguilla. He emphasized that there was a need to remove some of the negative information surrounding the island particularly in terms of the Zika virus. He suggested that efforts should be made to offer more tourism packages for Anguilla – noting that the island has a deep functional heritage apart from its beaches and food. He expressed the hope that Anguilla would have a bumper 2018 tourism season.
Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism, Mr. Victor Banks, urged all concerned to make the Anguilla experience even better. He took the opportunity to thank the investors in the tourism plant saying that without such a plant there would be nothing to market. He said, “the marketing meeting was all about how we can make what we have to sell even a better experience for visitors and for Anguillians as well.”
Mr. Banks added: “We look forward to the outcome of the deliberations and discussions over the next couple of days, and we thank you for your affinity for our destination. We look forward to find ways and means that we can leverage what we have even better.”
Parliamentary Secretary, Tourism, Mr. Cardigan Connor, was delighted that on two consecutive occasions Anguilla had recently been adjudged the best destination in the Caribbean, The Bahamas and Bermuda. “Considering the year we have just had, for us to achieve this – not just the Tourist Board – but all of you – [is an excellent accomplishment],” he told the gathering. “With the theme ‘Transforming the Anguilla Experience Beyond the Extraordinary’ is the time to confront our future as a tourism destination,” Mr. Connor stated. “It cannot be business as usual unless we expect to see the same unsatisfactory results that we have been experiencing no matter the personnel, no matter the administration – our fundamental issues need addressing now more than ever.”
Mr. Connor’s full address is published elsewhere in this edition of The Anguillian newspaper.
Mr. Delroy Lake, President of the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association, agreed that “Transforming the Anguilla Experience Beyond the Extraordinary” ought to be the goal of all the industry partners and in any customer-driven environment. “Anguilla, being an island where our livelihood is based on tourism, should be no different,” he said.
Mr. Lake continued: “For many of our visitors, there are two different, sometimes complete opposite experiences, when they come to Anguilla. These are usually defined as: the experience within the hotels, restaurants; and the experience everywhere else. Unfortunately, in many cases, the experience everywhere else does not match up with the experience at the hotels and restaurants. If we have to transform the Anguilla experience, we must seek to transform the thinking of the ordinary person on the street – the person who does not work directly in the tourism industry.”
The Hotel and Tourism Association President added: “We must make tourism the most important part of our conversation. As Government leaders, we must seek not only to reap the benefits that tourism brings to the island, but invest in the human resource capital of the island.”
He took the opportunity to welcome the overseas marketing representatives to Anguilla and wished all a very successful week.
The Chairperson of the Anguilla Tourist Board, Mrs. Donna Banks, delivered the closing address. Among other matters, she introduced the various marketing representatives whom she joined in welcoming to Anguilla. She pointed out the importance of the tourism marketing plans for the island, the need for the involvement of all partners in the further development of tourism in Anguilla – and gave a detailed explanation of the objectives of the Tourist Board for the development of the industry.
The main points of Mrs. Banks’ address are published elsewhere in this edition of The Anguillian newspaper.
