Latin American Travellers Encouraged To Spend Their Vacation In Antigua & Barbuda

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The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority recently concluded participation at the A&A Tours ‘Travel & Cruise Fest’ in Puerto Rico on February 8 and 9, where tourism executives were busy encouraging Latin American travellers to spend their next vacation in Antigua and Barbuda.

Thousands of attendees were present at the annual travel and cruise fair, which is one of the most highly anticipated travel expos in Puerto Rico.

 

“The show provided an opportunity to reintroduce the Puerto Rican market to Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism offering, including its contemporary accommodations, tours, attractions, heritage sites, culture, yachting and sailing”, said Regional Marketing Consultant for the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, Charmaine Spencer who attended the show and was joined by ABTA’s Executive PA, Matara Thomas.

 

Spencer noted that, while many Puerto Ricans already visit Antigua and Barbuda, they mainly travel via cruise. She said it was therefore key for the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority to deliver information on Antigua and Barbuda’s unique offerings, to encourage stayover visitation.

 

The fair which targets the travel trade as well as consumers, featured an exclusive business-2-business session geared specifically towards travel agents.

 

During one-on-one engagements with the agents, the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority team shared the destination’s plans for 2020, which included the introduction of new events that would attract Puerto Rican visitors, whether families, couples or solo travellers.

 

Spencer also highlighted the destination’s upcoming #WhatCoolLooksLike Summer campaign which presents visitors with the opportunity to save on travel to Antigua and Barbuda during the periods the May – October.

 

Antigua and Barbuda partners at the show included, Blue Diamond Resorts and Sandals Resorts, as well as interCaribbean Airways and Silver Airways (formerly Seaborne Airline), who offer direct connectivity between Antigua and Puerto Rico, as well as to the Dominican Republic.

 

Some of the other neighbouring island destinations at the show included, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and St. Martin.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Notes From A Native Son Of The Rock! “I ascribe a basic importance to the phenomenon of language. To speak means to be in a position to use a certain syntax, to grasp the morphology of this or that language, but it means above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization.” ― Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth!

    Is this a New Latin American Strategy which the People of African Descent and the Hospitality, Tourism and Yachting Sectors were consulted on and bought into to deliver ecological, financial and social benefits!

    Every day more than 820 overnight visitors primarily from the USA, UK, Canada, Western EU and the Caribbean fly into Antigua and Barbuda! They are drawn by our safe, secure villages, friendly people, remarkable and breathtaking national parks and world heritage site and unbelievable 365 beaches! These visitors are welcomed by hundreds of People of African Descent resident on Antigua and Barbuda who work in our hospitality, tourism and yachting sector, and who exhibit the very best our country can offer! From our impressive airport terminal to our largest city and villages to our small rain forest and abandoned sugar mills, and from world-class resorts to the family-run hotels and Airbnb villas, there are few places in Antigua and Barbuda that are not touched!

    Notwithstanding the 2018/2019 impressive growth, there is ample evidence that Antigua and Barbuda’s hospitality, tourism and yachting potential has lagged behind Caribbean growth and also represents a much smaller dollar value of Antigua and Barbuda’s exports compared to peer countries like our English speaking Caribbean and CARICOM SIDS!

    Antigua and Barbuda can not only significantly raise its aspirations with this new Strategic Latin American Imperative but the potential of the sector cannot be achieved overnight! It cannot be unlocked through the actions of governments or the private sector acting alone! The challenges are significant, including concentrated demand, limited transportation options, labour shortages (notwithstanding the xenophobic naysayers our population is only growing by a little over an unsustainable 1.06% even with migration from other Caribbean SIDS), and lack of attractive investments! Addressing these issues will require a new approach to coordinating the efforts of all levels of government, and all sizes of hospitality, tourism and yachting entrepreneurs practicing GoAB’s new buzz of “empowerment capitalism!”

    Antigua, with its demographic make up,has been referred to as the most Caribbean of the Caribbean by none other than Professor Dr. Hilary Beckles! Our people are well positioned to engage and speak kweyol, Dutch, Spanish and French!

    This mere voice in the wilderness has been raising the spectre of “De Encirclement Ring” creating a centripetal force on the People of African Descent resident on the Rock which will one day explode into an unharnessed centrifugal force! It must not be ignored with the lack of planning!

    Latin America may be ready for more Antigua and Barbuda! Is Antigua and Barbuda ready for Latin America!

    “The Afrocentric method is a form of cultural criticism that examines etymological uses of words and terms in order to know the source of an author’s location. This allows us to intersect ideas with actions and actions with ideas on the basis of what is pejorative and ineffective and what is creative and transformative at the political and economic levels.” – Dr. Molefi Asante, The Theory of Social Change!

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