Anne Pelouas
L’Anguilla Tourist Officea small island in the northern Caribbean Sea, is stepping up its efforts to attract more Canadians through a promotional tour that began last week in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, before continuing this Monday in Quebec.
Stacey Liburddirector of Anguilla Tourism Board (ATB), Kohn Richardson, coordinator of international markets of the ATB, and Nicola Blazierfrom the Toronto public relations agency Jesson + Company (responsible for promoting Anguilla on the Canadian market) met with travel advisors and tour operators as well as Canadian journalists on this occasion.
Their message: “ Flee the crowds. Anguilla awaits you ”, as the Anguilla Tourist Office leaflet, given to participants in the meetings, proclaims.
From January to May, Anguilla broke a visitor record, with 98,052 people coming mainly from the United States and Canada, its two main markets, said Ms. Liburd during a meeting with journalists Friday in Montreal. In 2019, before the pandemic, Anguilla attracted 98,000 vacationers.
For Quebec, no specific data, but the island intends to see the market grow, either through reservations with Vacances Air Canada, Sunwing or Westjet who sell the destination, either through travel agents or the Anguilla tourist office. is ready to support in their work », underlined Ms. Liburd. “ We really want to be more present on the market », she added.
Getting to Anguilla
The crux of the matter? Accessibility of the island for Canadians. If there are no direct flights from Canada to Anguilla, Ms. Liburd is counting on the island’s new airport to change the situation.
The passenger terminal will open its doors in the fall of 2025 and the extension of a runway will allow the following year to accommodate large aircraft, such as Boeing 737 Max 8s, thus allowing the arrival of more direct flights, specified -She.
In the meantime, she assures us, we can easily access the island via its neighbor Saint-Martin which is only a few minutes by additional flight or 20 minutes by ferry, or even via Miami with 11 direct flights to Anguilla. per week in winter.
Is Saint-Martin overshadowing Anguilla? Not at all, replies Mr. Richardson, who believes that it rather benefits from the proximity of Saint-Martin where flights from Canadian carriers such as Air Transat.
You can also easily combine a stay in the Dominican Republic with another in Anguilla, thanks to a direct flight from Santo Domingo, said Ms. Liburd. According to her, it is almost as easy to go from Martinique or Guadeloupe, other popular destinations for Quebecers, to Anguilla via Saint-Martin.
New hotels and new recognitions
Among the developments on the island, Ms. Liburd cites the construction of two new marinas with luxury resorts (Altamer, Savannah Bay Marina and Resort), the opening next year of theAni Private Resortswith 15 suites to Shoal Bay.
A flagship hotel, Malliouhana will also celebrate with great fanfare this winter its 40e birthday, while the Tranquility Beach Resorton the beach Meads Bay (3e most beautiful beach in the world according to USA Today) wins the title of Best of the Best of Trip Advisor for the third year in a row.
On the list of 40 Caribbean resorts selected this year by the Conde Nast Traveler Readers’Choice Awards there were also three establishments from Anguilla: Earth Beach House (au 6e rang), Cape Juluca (11e rank) and Malliouhana (au 33e rank), according to a press release published on October 3 – which also ranks Anguilla second among the Caribbean islands.
The passage of the 3e at 2e position of this ranking is “ a great recognition of our commitment to improving our visitors’ experiences on the island », declared on this occasion Chantelle Richardsondeputy director of the ATB.
Among the attractions of Anguilla…
In addition to its superb beaches bordering turquoise waters, where water sports abound, its golf courses, its offers for weddings and business tourism, Anguilla believes it has a lot to offer tourists in terms of events, including its Summer Festival (carnival), the Moonsplash (music festival in March 2025) and two gastronomy festivals: Sea at Easter and Anguilla Culinary Experience (from April 30 to May 3, 2025).
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