“Anguilla today is truly Beyond Extraordinary”, said the Coordinator for International Markets, Mrs. Chantelle Richardson, borrowing the latest promotional catch phrase of the island’s Tourist Board for which she works. “We are proud to share our number one Best Island in the Caribbean – Anguilla – for the third time in a row, rated by Travel & Leisure.”
The opportunity for Mrs. Richardson to speak on Anguilla, as a desired destination, was provided at the Annual General Meeting of the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association several days ago: “There is much excitement when it comes to promoting Anguilla and we all deserve a round of applause.”
She continued: “The Anguilla Tourist Board is pleased to announce that the island is well on its way to achieve its goal of a 20 percent increase in stay¬-over arrivals for the fiscal year 2019. According to the latest numbers, released by the Department of Statistics, Anguilla recorded a record-breaking 55,916 stay-over arrivals from January to June. This reflected an increase of 26.03 percent over the same period in 2016, and is a 16.75 percent over the arrivals recorded for the corresponding period in 2017.
“The Anguilla Tourist Board has a full schedule of trade and consumer-related marketing activities, and a series of on-island trade and media visits, planned for the fall. All activations are designed to generate consumer awareness and drive bookings to the destination for the all important winter season and beyond.”
Mrs. Richardson reported that the Anguilla Tourist Board’s trade and sales marketing initiatives are as follows: “In the US market, during the month of September 23-26, the Tourist Board attended the Midwest Travel Suppliers Association trade show. In South American (Argentina) we attended the F.I.T. Travel trade show October 5 -8. In Italy, we attended the T.T.G. Travel trade show from October 9-11. In the United Kingdom, from October 18-20, we attended the Quality Travel fair in Denmark. In Canada, the Anguilla Tourist Board’s representative hosted a road show during October 23-27 and we visited cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. In the US market, October 28-31, we hosted the Anguilla-US road show and we focused on areas of New England, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
“For our upcoming events in the US market, November 18-22, Anguilla will host another road show and will be in areas such as Philadelphia, New Jersey North and South and New York.
“In the United Kingdom, on November 28, the Anguilla Tourist Board will attend a travel dinner presentation. In the United States, from December 2-5, we will host another road show. On December 13, we will also have an Anguilla dinner presentation in New York City; and in the United Kingdom [later in December] we will host a travel industry awards [event] in partnership with Carib Tours.”
Mrs. Richardson also took the opportunity to mention a number of other events involving travel and incentive groups visiting Anguilla – and workshops at the Tourist Board.
The Coordinator of International Markets added: “Thus far, the Anguilla Tourist Board is delighted to see the results of the intense work we have put into marketing and promotion of Anguilla. Most importantly, we are grateful for the combined efforts and support of both our public and private sector partners – in producing the desired results that have enabled us to achieve our target goals of visitor arrivals.”
