Though at present not in a position to provide a second daily flight to Anguilla from the San Juan hub, American Eagle has embarked on new initiatives to help sell the island. It is a collaborative effort involving the airline, the Tourist Board, the Hotel and Tourism Association and the Government. As an integral part of the arrangement, the airline has now stationed a local representative in Anguilla in the person of Mary-Jo Koebele.

She will be working with the hotels handling the pre-check-ins and boarding for the guests who will not be required to wait in long lines and be hassled by their luggage. “The guests will love it,” she remarked.

The initiatives were announced at a meeting with the Anguilla Tourist Board and the Hotel and Tourism Association on Wednesday by the American Airlines Regional Manager for Sales and Marketing, Evette Negron and Carlos Garcia, General Manager for Tortola, Anguilla and St. Maarten. They, along with the Special Adviser for Tourism, Donna Banks, and Ms Koebele, the local representative, then met with Government officials and later with the press when they further outlined the new plans.

Mrs. Banks thanked the American Eagle for its service to Anguilla over the past 20 years. She said the Government and its tourism agencies would work closely with the airline not only to ensure that airlift into Anguilla continued, but was enhanced with easy connections, seamless travel and competitive prices for visitors.

“We are committed to this island…and we addressed the hoteliers to let them know that we are here to help them sell our product and their product,” Ms. Negron told the reporters. “We are not leaving this island… and if the demand is there, may be in the future we will add another service; but we will have to fill this one flight in order for us to think about adding an extra service into Anguilla. We have to change people’s way of thinking and have them instead of flying to St. Maarten to start flying directly into Anguilla via San Juan.”

Hoteliers and other representatives at the Tourist Board Meeting

Mr. Garcia reported that they had a very productive meeting with the Hotel Association and the Tourist Board. “We were able to clarify certain doubts they had in terms of service and connectivity,” he said. “We are looking forward to the future. We are going to implement some new initiatives based on customer service. This will not only be in Anguilla, but this will be the first island where we are going to implement the service…directly with the hotels. Passengers coming into Anguilla and staying at the properties will be able to pre-check in at the hotels. When they come to the airport they will not have to stay in any lines, everything will be taken care of for them. I think this will be an asset for the island, putting it into an advantage position as a Caribbean destination. Whatever we can do to help bring tourists into Anguilla, we are looking forward to that.”

Mr. Garcia said that in terms of connectivity there would be flights to get Anguilla-bound visitors from markets in New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Boston and other States. “They are going to be able to connect into Anguilla without having to overnight and to spend some extra dollars, so that is going to be a huge plus for the island as well,” he stated.

The airline representatives understood the present difficulties for Anguillians to travel to Puerto Rico on the late afternoon flight, having been accustomed to take the original morning flight and return to Anguilla on the evening flight. The American Eagle representatives pointed out however that the cost of tickets had been reduced by some $100 to help accommodate them.

L-R: Ms Mary-Jo Koebele, Mr. Garcia, Ms. Evette Negron and Ms. Donna Banks

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