By Shermain Bique-Charles
Antigua and Barbuda achieved what tourism authorities are calling record-breaking arrivals last month.
According to statistics, 21,434 visitors arrived by air in October. The next highest month was in 2019 with 19,971 arrivals.
“So, that is good news for us, bearing in mind all the concerns and the issues that we had. As I said before, we were looking at the [post-pandemic] recovery rate of 75 percent of 2019 figures,” Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez told Observer.
He said previous projections had been conducted before the war in Ukraine and the increase in oil prices which, in turn, resulted in higher air fares.
“And bearing in mind that LIAT is not back up yet, as it was in 2019, bearing in mind that the Halcyon and Jolly Beach Hotel are not yet in operation, so we’re really happy about that.
“As of the end of October, compared with the first 10 months of 2019, we had 89 percent levels, which is surpassing the 75 percent that was predicted. And we are hoping for a very strong month in November and December,” he said.
Fernandez is attributing the success to aggressive marketing in the United States, the UK and Canada.
“Now picking up on it has been really out there, pushing really hard. So, I think our marketing efforts have been paying off for us. We are looking forward to a strong November and, of course, a strong December,” he said.
Where cruise arrivals are concerned, Fernandez said that, too, looks promising. He said just this week alone, hundreds of passengers disembarked on Antigua’s cruise port.
The country is also getting ready to welcome some 1,000 passengers in January as part of the first homeporting initiative.
“The mega vessel UK Carnival Cruise line will be homeporting in Antigua on January 28th, and between 800 and 1,000 passengers will be flying into Antigua to join that ship.
“We will be homeporting between Barbados and Antigua. Our taxi operations will benefit … there will be a number of benefits,” Fernandez added.