Antigua plans airport upgrade

TravelMole Q&A with Harold Lovell, minister of tourism and civil aviation of Antigua and Barbuda

Q)    Are there any required or planned improvements to the airport in the pipeline?

A)    We have expansion plans as it is too small. We have added one carousel and four more check-in stations. There are now 800 seats instead of 300. However, it is still too small and we expect to agree with the Chinese to have a new airport terminal building to be started next year

We are now stepping up the South American market and there will shortly be daily flights from Miami. We will aim at the Spanish/Portuguese language countries, e.g. Brazil. There is tremendous potential there. This will all add to the pressure on the airport and thus the need for refurbishment and expansion.

Q)    What wakes you up in the morning with reference to tourism?

Strategy – visitor numbers, where are we going. We cannot assume the numbers are always going to go up.  Regarding the US, Caribbean and UK, everything is going well. We get statistics monthly in the department from airport arrivals and of course I get hearsay from taxi drivers and airport staff, which keeps me on my toes.

Caribbean numbers are down; inter-island transport is down. UK is up.  Current emphasis is on UK because of strength of the pound but it’s a fight to keep market share.  The fact that British Airways are flying in daily is a huge boost.

The US passport initiative caused numbers to dip down but I am please to say are now rising again.

Q)    How do you ensure the benefit of tourism goes to Antigua and its population?

A)    This is a major challenge. Tourism contributes approximately 75% to our economy – but how is the man on the street benefiting?  We need to train our staff to take positions in the industry that pay well. We can also seize upon ancillary services which create opportunities for the Antiguan population. The challenge for the government is to equip them with business skills or business incentives, e.g. tax credits with banks to encourage local entrepreneurs. 

Q)   What about the environment and responsible tourism?  How high up the agenda are these topics?

A)   Very high. Some see it as an unequal match. We always need to keep everything in check to keep the impact on the environment to a minimum. We are able to establish a good balance between how much destruction of the environment to develop in order to grow the tourism industry. Sustainability is obviously a major factor and we have a number of initiatives that are helping maintain local culture and customs.

We ran a programme recently which encouraged locals to offer accommodation. 70 people applied and of these 43 are completed. The guest house/B&B association was formed into a credit union to obtain finance to start them up.  There is a growing small hotel sector so more rooms are coming on board.   

Regarding local attractions and people, there are no direct strategies in place to go and visit rum shacks and local bars.  We have found that the island’s taxi drivers are our most successful ambassadors but with this in mind we introduced a Service Ambassador programme in 2005 which covered three points:

• Know your island

• Quality customer care

• Hospitality in tourism industry (importance of tourism industry)

We aim to improve customer service and the interaction that occurs.

Q)    What about your website? It is awful and out of date. What do you plan to do about it?

A)    We recognise there is a problem with it and it is currently under construction. It will be complete by mid-March.

The new website will draw attention to the enormous calendar of events that are available in Antigua such as Sanford 20-20, Carnival, Sail Week and other events. The thrust is to make Antigua the events capital of the Caribbean.  We are endeavouring to put one major event on each month.

Q)    CTO – One Caribbean. Is this a good policy?

A)    Yes, and we are fully buying into it. It is the only way forward. Antigua does not have enormous to put into a major global campaign. These days the real competition is with the Indian Ocean, Far East etc. If we can get the Caribbean brand out there, we will all do well.

Q)    How much is government and how much is private sector in terms of driving tourism?

A)    Regarding destination management, the government needs to take the leading role looking after infrastructure – roads, airports and the like. The development of the tourism businesses though will be squarely in the hands of the private sector.

We have a strong partnership approach – the government and the private sector will always be working together

Q)    Do you have any new initiatives?

A)

o        To be event-led over the next 18 months/two years. We need a proper structure for all of the events and festivals we have here in Antigua .

o        Heritage will be major over the next year. Antigua has several potential heritage sites. We have fortresses and ruins that can be restored and turned into visitor centres. Unfortunately the industrial (sugar) mills have limited potential as they are too dilapidated. We have two Cuban heritage experts who will be visiting sites over a 12 day period, the idea being to restore, refurbish and re-brand.

o        Moods of Pan Festival will be new as will increased promotion of Betty’s Hope Plantation (sugar).

In addition to this we are seriously looking at re-branding indigenous and local attractions to make them more accessible to the visitor. This will be yet another way the Antiguan people can interact with tourists, showcase the famous Antiguan hospitality and friendliness plus deliver real economic benefit to the local communities.

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