ANTIGUA & BARBUDA TOURISM AUTHORITY

Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation, Hon. John Maginley, is optimistic with the performance of the tourism sector in 2012, and the prospects that the future holds for the industry in the coming months.

Statistics recently released from the Ministry of Tourism’s Statistical Department show a total of 246,926 bona fide tourist arrivals by air for the entire year of 2012, an increase of 2.32% over those of 2011. Minister Maginley expressed his satisfaction at the performance of the twin-island state in 2012 and noted, “Our arrivals have been experiencing steady growth since the great recession hit our major source markets in 2008. Arrival numbers are now the highest since then, which would indicate that there is a rebound in the tourism market. The work continues, and we are confident that there is more to come in 2013, as we strengthen our product and increase our presence overseas.”

The United States and Canada were the markets that saw significant growth in 2012, with the US recording 93,214 tourist arrivals, up 9.88% over that of 2011 and Canada recording 24,185, up 7.95% over that of 2011. Antigua and Barbuda recorded 68,677 tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom; just about the same recorded in 2011.  With the solid increase in arrival figures from the United States it has now become the destination’s largest source market.

CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA), Colin James, is satisfied with the arrival numbers and is confident that the efforts being made to promote the destination by the ABTA offices locally and overseas are proving dividends in arrival figures. He explains, “In 2012, with the government’s implementation of the 2% marketing fund collected by hotels, the destination has been able to increase its presence with Online Travel giants such as Expedia and TripAdvisor, resulting in millions of impressions that have made direct contact with many prospective visitors and have led them to the point of purchase.” He continued, “Room nights are up and airlift out of our key markets is the best that it has ever been, indicating that 2013 is already shaping up to beat 2012, as our airlift is scheduled to increase in the upcoming year. When getting to Antigua and Barbuda is easy and affordable it makes the job of marketing the destination that much easier.”

The Antigua & Barbuda visitor experience is set to be further enhanced in 2013, with the release of the country’s new and revamped global website, as well as the completion of the new V.C Bird International Airport, currently under construction.