Breaking Journey Information interview: Stacey Liburd, director of tourism, Anguilla Vacationer Board | Focus

The Caribbean island of Anguilla looks to the summer with renewed optimism after carefully handling the response to the Covid-19 crisis to provide a super-safe destination for post-pandemic sun seekers.

Growing numbers of residents are being vaccinated against the virus and strict protocols are in place to ensure cases are detected and contained quickly.

Stacey Liburd, Anguilla Tourism Director, told Breaking Travel News: “We hope to be able to fully open the island for the summer. For this we need 70 percent of the population vaccinated against Covid-19.

“We have currently vaccinated around 4,500 people, a further 5,900 are registered – 12,800 are the target.

“Once we get there, the government will be able to relax the existing Covid-19 protocols and open our borders.

“Realistically, we hope to hit that mark by June and that should coincide well with the reopening of the UK outbound market.”

The UK market is a British overseas territory in the eastern Caribbean and a major source of visitors to Anguilla.

With the UK outbound sector reopening on May 17th, there is hope that the British will choose the Caribbean destination as their first break in more than a year.

“Most of the time, we see people who have the flexibility to jump on a private jet right now, but that’s obviously not a big market,” continues Liburd.

“But I would like to emphasize that Anguilla not only appeals to wealthy individuals, but also offers an enormous selection of medium-sized properties, villas and Airbnb.

“You don’t have to do six-digit numbers to enjoy Anguilla.

“Remember, all Anguilla beaches are public. Even if you find yourself in a five-star resort or a more modest villa, you still get the same view, the same oceanfront experience.”

She adds: “What we saw is a lot of last minute bookings – up to a week before arrival.

“Hotels don’t see the usual months of pre-planning, so it’s very difficult to predict where we’ll be next month.

“If a hotel is 20 percent full in April, there are currently no discounts as demand will likely increase at the last minute.

“We can see that we are preparing for a strong third and fourth quarter this year. It is therefore important that we get as many vaccinations as possible.

“Of course we are in a race against the other islands, we want to be the first to really open up.”

Anguilla currently has no cases of Covid-19 and has only recorded 18 cases since the pandemic began, all of which have been imported.

There have been no deaths, no community spread, and there are no active cases on the island today.

Liburd explains, “Anguilla should take advantage of our tight security measures in our bookings for 2021 and beyond as the travel market slowly returns.

“We worked very hard to earn our safe list reputation.

“We are currently accepting guests, but under very strict protocols. We try to be as close to a normal vacation as possible, but certain freedoms currently remain impossible.

“Upon arrival, the guests receive their first PCR test. We aim to get the results back to you within 24 hours.

“For the first night, guests have to stay in their approved accommodation – until they get a negative test result.

“At this point you are entering the ‘vacation bubble’ where you can enjoy activities such as horse riding, golf and water sports. However, you cannot get into a rental car and explore the island, for example.

“The goal is that we can always be accountable to you – to keep track of your movements – when we get cases.”

In the worst case, there are also plans, adds the tourism director.

“If you test positive, you will be looked after here on the island – but we have had very few cases so far.

“Each property has an isolation area, should this be necessary.

“This first test is so important on arrival, even if you tested negative before leaving, there’s still a chance you contracted Covid-19 on the route or were asymptomatic,” says Liburd.

Liburd picked them up role in January of this year and has big plans when the tourism sector reopens.

“This position has not been filled for six years, so much remains to be done to see what was missing,” she continues.

“For example, we will have a Chief Marketing Officer from April.

“But my agenda also focuses on the benefits of the sector. Not only can we market tourism to tourists, we have to sell it to the people who live on the island.

“Covid-19 has forced us in that direction – which was one of the positive things that emerged from the pandemic. The people on the island were able to enjoy the destination.

“There are also some low hanging fruit that we can take advantage of, including regional trips where we’ve worked to create packages and offers for visitors to our neighboring islands.

“It’s something we’ve never had before.”

She adds, “I want to rebuild bridges between the Anguilla Tourist Board and the private sector and have been looking for the harsh truth in one-on-one meetings to find out where we dropped the ball.

“Our partners in the private sector have been asked what they need from us and we are trying to improve these relationships in order to work in harmony with the private sector.

“The message got tangled because we are not on the same page – but we are now working on flying in formation and presenting a unified message.”

Of course, as with any island destination, the airlift remains critically important and as the Covid-19 clouds gradually dissipate this year, it will be a focus for the tourism association.

“I will work to connect the island,” says Liburd.

“Carriers like JetBlue if we can get a direct line from Fort Lauderdale that would be huge, or a line from Antigua for example.

“But we have to add new hubs. A connection from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic to Anguilla, for example, would open up a whole new world for us.

“We have great ambitions for the coming year.”

Finally, hoteliers on the island are taking the opportunity to upgrade their offerings amid the forced shutdown of Covid-19, which suggests the island will be in tip-top shape once travelers return.

“The CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa is under new ownership and management and the product is undergoing a major overhaul. This will add things that we haven’t seen before on the island, ”adds Liburd.

“This should be ready for the new season in November and they will work to encourage this from the third quarter of the year.

“But all over the island, people are using the downtime to improve their offerings – restaurants, for example, are being developed everywhere.

“With that in mind, we plan to have a food festival in November, maybe with Kerth Gumbs, whom you know from Ormer in the UK,” she concludes.

More information

Access from the UK to Anguilla is either via Virgin Atlantic and British Airways to Antigua, followed by a local charter flight to the island, or with KLM / Air France from London via Schiphol or Paris to St. Maarten, from where Anguilla is a short boat ride on the other side of the water.

This year, Anguilla leased a second dock for the St. Maarten-Anguilla route, which offers more space for passenger pick-up and drop-off.

Learn more about the officer website.

Images: Anguilla Tourist Board

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