{"id":6510,"date":"2017-08-21T21:54:21","date_gmt":"2017-08-21T21:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=6510"},"modified":"2017-08-21T21:54:21","modified_gmt":"2017-08-21T21:54:21","slug":"government-says-asot-stays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-asot-stays\/","title":{"rendered":"Government says Asot stays"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The government has scoffed at calls by the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) for Tourism Minister Asot Michael to resign.<\/span><\/p>

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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week, Political Leader of the UPP Harold Lovell called on Michael to give up his position based on the\u00a0continued downward trajectory\u00a0of stay over arrivals and the missed opportunity to properly market Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s 60th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of Carnival, which recently concluded.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The opposition said recent\u00a0statistics for the month of July showed\u00a0a 10\u00a0per cent\u00a0decline\u00a0<\/span>across all markets, indicating that the projected arrivals did not meet expectations.<\/span><\/p>

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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Government\u2019s Chief of Staff \u201cLionel \u201cMax\u201d Hurst referred to the opposition\u2019s request as nonsense and rubbish.<\/span><\/p>

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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we have heard lots of foolish calls in the past but this is the most foolish,\u201d Hurst said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In defending Minister Michael\u2019s record, Hurst said tourism figures for 2015 and 2016 were reflective of a bumper period and added that the minister has not only brought new airlines to Antigua and Barbuda, but mega cruise ships.<\/span><\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are new airlines flying through Puerto Rico, flying out of the United States, flying out of Canada, flying out of the UK, we have new airlines flying out of Antigua and Barbuda.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut we also have some mega ships that are coming to Antigua and Barbuda as a result of the rebuilding of the harbor- we have the Quantum Class and as you know we are expecting the Oasis class to sail in here sometime after November early December of 2017,\u201d Hurst noted.<\/span><\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He said a decline in visitor arrivals for one month is very unusual for anyone to ask for the resignation of a minister of tourism.<\/span><\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The chief of staff insisted that \u201cYou would have to show massive failure on his (the minister\u2019s) part.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hurst said Lovell, as tourism minister for the period 2004-2009, destroyed the country\u2019s economy and caused thousands to lose their jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 The government has scoffed at calls by the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) for Tourism Minister Asot Michael to resign. \u00a0 Last week, Political Leader of the UPP Harold Lovell called on Michael to give up his position based on the\u00a0continued downward trajectory\u00a0of stay over arrivals and the missed opportunity to properly market Antigua […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-tourism"],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment says Asot stays - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-asot-stays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government says Asot stays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0 The government has scoffed at calls by the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) for Tourism Minister Asot Michael to resign. \u00a0 Last week, Political Leader of the UPP Harold Lovell called on Michael to give up his position based on the\u00a0continued downward trajectory\u00a0of stay over arrivals and the missed opportunity to properly market Antigua […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-asot-stays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-21T21:54:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/OECS-Conference-Opening-3399.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"899\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"599\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-asot-stays\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-asot-stays\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Government says Asot stays\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-21T21:54:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-21T21:54:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-asot-stays\/\"},\"wordCount\":319,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-asot-stays\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:899\/h:599\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/OECS-Conference-Opening-3399.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Featured\",\"Tourism\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-asot-stays\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-asot-stays\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/government-says-asot-stays\/\",\"name\":\"Government says Asot stays - 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