Q & A with Victor Banks, Minister of Finance, Economic Development, Investment and Tourism of Anguilla

Caribbean Week 2009 came back to New York City with flying colors, the colors of the Caribbean and its multitude of cultures and historic values. One of the island nations that basked in the Big Apple limelight was no doubt Anguilla and Caribbean News Digital’s Indiana Monteverde sat down with Victor Banks, the country’s minister of Finance, Economic Development, Investment and Tourism. In this exclusive interview, Mr. Banks broached a number of issues that certainly lay out the marketing strategies of today and tomorrow for that beautiful Caribbean destination.

Q- You didn’t go to Cuba for this year’s tourism fair, did you?
A- No, I didn’t. The last time I was in Cuba was in 1983. I’ve been following the progress in Cuba. I’ve seen things changing and Cuba will be a part of regional tourism market, the destination that we look forward to because we want to encourage people to come to the Caribbean. We want you to come to the Caribbean, you chose a destination and then you have a variety of destinations to visit.

Q- What do you make of the prospects of multidestination with Cuba?
A- I was not aware of the conference. I have a really small jurisdiction. Anguilla has a population of only 15,000 people. We only have 200 hotel rooms, so a higher level of promotion is not necessary. But we are growing, we are spending in our tourism plan and we are increasing the value of our product. We have gotten more involved in recent events.

Q- What does the Jazz Festival mean to you, to Anguilla? Is that a signature events for the island?
A- The Jazz Festival is the signature event for Anguilla. It started about six years ago. We wanted to have an event in Anguilla the whole year which should attract visitors. We know there are a lot of people who gather for festivals and we wanted to have a jazz festival that fits with the tourism product itself.

We focused on the market, the luxury market. We have an affordable combination in all ranges, that’s our focus and we believe that the jazz event should also have that kind of appeal and we are appealing to the streets. We have a Latin jazz, a Brazilian jazz and the jazz from the United States. That’s our focus.

Q- When is the Jazz Festival slated for?
A- From November 12 to 15.

Q- Besides jazz, sun, sand and beach, what would you tackle next?
A- We have a number of events. We have some festival and carnivals, calypso, reggae, and that kind of things. We have a reggae festival. We are developing a golf festival and we are also doing tennis events. That is the focus.

Q- Are you telling me you are more focused on the wealthy sector right now?
A- We are not focused on wealthy. We are focused on everybody, but the luxury is our core market. Now we want to extend that experience across the ring of travelers, whether you are a family traveler, whether you are a budget traveler.

Q- Do you mean guesthouses?
A- Exactly. That’s our charming escape collection. Those are affordable properties at the mid range of the market, which are affordable, but have the same level. Anguilla itself is an experience.

Q- How do you train the guesthouse staffs?
A- That includes the charming escape collection; those properties are part of that. They have to participate in certain training experiences, the new consultancies about the way that the rooms should be marketed, the services to provide, and the things that you should focus on for the guests. It’s a collection, not just a collection of properties, but a collection of elements with common philosophy and style on approach to tourism.

Q- Do you pay heed to the Spanish-speaking market in the U.S.?
A- I have a real focus on the Caribbean market in the U.S. which includes the Spanish-speaking population. We have a special event for them over the year. I don’t think we are having one this year, but we have had in previous years because we also want to develop regional tourism. There are elements of regional tourism that already exist. Of course, we focus on the Venezuelan, the Brazilian markets. It doesn’t matter the language because we have tourism coming from Japan, from Brazil, from Europe; but near home is minimal.

Q- I once went to Anguilla and I had to go through San Martin. Why is that?
A- That’s because you don’t have direct flights from South America. You can come to San Martin and you can come to Anguilla very easily.

Q- Do you need a visa to go to Anguilla if you are coming from South America?
A- There are some countries that require visa, but not all of them. Certainly, Brazil and Venezuela don’t require visa. For travelers this visa is easy to combine.

Q- What about Europe?
A- No visa required.

Q- Tell us a bit about your marketing efforts overall? What countries or world regions are you zeroing in on?
A- We have agencies in Europe, in England and several cities in all Europe.

Q- What about Spain?
A- Spain is covered by the Italian market.

Q- So, you did not attend FITUR this year, back in January?
A- I can’t say. I, particularly, didn’t go to the event, but the Anguilla Tourism Board has visited a number of events and I would assume they have gone to that event as well.

Q- Now, in this economic situation we’re going through, what will you do to aggressively market the island? I’m talking about 2010.
A- We believe that we need to let people know that our destination is not only for the travelers who have a lot of money, but also for all persons from all ways of life; and that we have properties to promote into the market, that’s the focus is on this period. We continue novel marketing, but also we want to accentuate the charming escape collection properties.