How Anguilla Is Expanding Traveler Options Post-Outbreak
Named chairman of the Anguilla Tourist Board (ATB) in July 2020, Kenroy Herbert’s initial hospitality business experience came in a much different role. An Anguilla native, he learned tourism from the ground up.
Trained as a chemist, he nevertheless found himself drawn toward hospitality. He soon began a resort career as a staff member at the premium golf course that is now part of the new Aurora Anguilla Resort.
“I had a [chemistry] scholarship and it was crazy to turn it down,” Herbert said earlier this month. “But I always wanted to be in hospitality.”
Starting as a caddie, he was determined to learn the resort operations business. Herbert met a prominent hotelier on the links and effectively talked his way into a villa manager position. Today he’s board chairman of the agency that directs Anguilla’s crucial tourism industry.
Access to Anguilla has expanded, with American Airlines recently announcing the launch of twice-weekly flights from Miami beginning December 11, the first direct flights to the island from a U.S. gateway. Frequencies will increase to three departures weekly beginning Jan. 2, 2022.
We spoke recently with Herbert to gain his insight on Anguilla’s tourism present and future.
TP: How has your tenure as ATB chairman, which began during the pandemic, progressed to this point?
KH: “COVID made it a hard tenure for us. The first year there was no tourism. Our borders were closed. Luckily this is my second time as a board member. I was a member from 2017 to 2019. I came back with this administration as chairman.”
TP: How is your agency working to improve the experience for visitors to Anguilla?
KH: As someone who travels a lot for the industry, I see the good bad and the ugly. Anguilla is a very high-end destination. But we want that high-end experience to be at every tough point, which includes when you arrive at the island and depart as well. With the new ferry port being built at Blowing Point, when it is finished, we will have live entertainment on heavy arrival days, with steel pan players. The port is scheduled to be finished between 12 to 14 months; I’d say 2023 first quarter.
TP: Are there other plans in the works?
KH: The Tourist Board also handles the dock at St. Maarten [at Princess Juliana International Airport]. We are in negotiations with a private company for a public-private partnership for a new port facility. Once we have the OK’s, [the parties] will start construction and hopefully, the [Blowing Point terminal] will be ready at the same time, and that will be a game-changer for those passengers traveling to Anguilla from St. Maarten.
TP: What traveler amenities and facilities will the new St. Maarten facility feature?
KP: The [St. Maarten] port will be designed to handle 4,000 passengers a day. It will have four wharf slips, four VIP departure lounges which hotels can take advantage of with branding, and a huge [main] departure lounge. It is a seaport but designed like an airport, with restaurants and bars. When that is complete that will also enhance the guest experience for visitors arriving from St. Maarten. St. Barts may also become a partner in this.
TP: Anguilla is upgrading its international airport. Is the country still exploring plans to build a new airport?
KP: Our airport has been subject to a long debate. [But] if you have all of those beds, you need heads. Now, do we want to be like St. Maarten and open the floodgates? No. We want to control the flow and type of passenger. We have to be very strategic in the way we open up and allow flights to come in.
TP: You mentioned you’ve talked with Richard M. Schulze, the new owner of the Aurora Anguilla Resort, the former highly regarded CuisinArt property. What are his plans for the new luxury property?
KP: He said the goal for him is making a statement. He wants [Aurora] to be in the top 100 resorts in the world. That’s a big feat, but he’s definitely up to the task. He is redoing a golf course that didn’t need re-doing. He’s hired a two Michelin star chef to oversee the food and beverage program. There’s a hydroponic farm and will open an orchard and the kid’s water park is being designed by Disney. Aurora is going to be a great project and will uplift the entire profile of Anguilla.
TP: What other Anguilla properties will greet visitors this winter?
KH: Belmond Cap Juluca is one of those iconic hotels that cannot do any wrong [and] was still hosting 90 percent occupancy and 100 percent occupancy in the high season. The hotel needed renovations, but people were still coming. Since Belmond bought it and renovated it, they are now going to add a world-class spa facility. I think people will fly in just to go to that spa. Malliouhana is the first five-star resort in Anguilla since being bought by Auberge and still holds that title. And on the eastern end of the island is Zemi Beach Resort, which is great. Anguilla also has more villa rooms than hotel rooms. There are a lot of options for accommodations.
TP: What were the first days of reopening to visitors following the outbreak like?
KH: When we tested the waters for reopening the villas were open first. We had Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat, who came for 10 days. He was a guinea pig so to speak. That’s when we launched the “bubble” concept. The government trained all the hospitality staff and restaurant owners and ground transportation providers to be able to handle folks. [Jimmy Butler] was the first, and it was successful. We have eased restrictions and updated protocols since then.
TP: Do you believe Anguilla did a good job of handling the outbreak locally?
KH: I think Anguilla did a remarkable job in how it handled COVID. We closed our borders immediately when we had our first three cases. People thought we were nuts. But we didn’t understand COVID, we didn’t know enough. We had to close our borders, which was a challenge because visitors left and hotels closed.
TP: How did ATB respond initially?
KH: The ATB collaborated with some key stakeholders and that’s when we came up with the bubble movement. When we started, we opened with the villas first and when that was successful, we opened the hotels. People were still able to go to dinner, have boat excursions and all of those things. The protocols worked.