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Hello Tourist Program Draws To A Close The Hello Tourist Program for 2002 is drawing to a close, after one of its most exciting and rewarding seasons ever. Six of the eleven classes have already completed their overnight stay as a tourist in Anguilla, and all reports from hoteliers, students and teachers indicate that they were a resounding success. The remaining classes will complete their stays by the middle of July. Once again, the ATB’s partners in the industry, the Taxi-drivers, restaurants, and attractions, were called upon to assist with the logisitics of accommodating some 112 students for a one-night stay. It was an undertaking to which they readily responded, offering their goods and services complimentary or at the most minimal of costs. This year the students were required to complete two projects in partial fulfillment of the program: a hand-craft item, which could be done on an individual or group basis, and a project of greater scope, focussing on the school or the community, with significance for the environment and/or tourism. While most schools opted to make the hand-craft project on a group basis, the students of the Tr. Gloria Omolulu Institute made their projects on an individual basis. The projects made included collages, creative souvenir bags, hotel models, imaginative picture frames, and many other beautiful items incorporating the use of indigenous products. The larger projects focussed especially on the beautification of the environment through the planting of trrees and flowers, although one enterprising school involved the community in their project to clean up and restore the wetlands around the pond in their district. A
plaque will be awarded by the Anguilla Tourist Board to the Class
which presents the most outstanding Hello Tourist Project for
the year. The plaque, which is sponsored by Alloyd’s Enterprises,
will be awarded during the final assembly of the school on Friday,
July 5, 2002. The projects can be seen on display at the Craft
Shop of the National Council of Women in the Valley. Anguilla Summer Festival Update Plans are progressing smoothly for the hosting of the 2002 Anguilla Summer Festival, slated for August 1-11 at the Landsome Bowl Cultural Centre. According to Festivals Coordinator, Fritzroy “Briggy” Tomlinson, the program has now been finalized with a few changes to the general carnival line-up. Principal among these is the allocation of August 3rd to the Bands of Anguilla for a special performance they are dubbing “Sound-clash: Battle of the Giants”. This is a fundraiser, which the bands are undertaking to help alleviate some of the costs associated with the street events. Another interesting addition has been the inclusion of a Female Calypso Monarch Competition on the night of August 2nd . Eleven ladies are scheduled to compete on the same evening as the Junior Calypso King Competition which has seen a veritable renaissance this year with eleven youngsters registered to compete. The Calypso Arena continues to be busy with preparations for the Semi-Finals Competition heating up as the date, July 19th draws closer. Not only the Calypsonians, but also the Bands, have been rocking the airwaves with new releases, adding to the carnival fever, which is beginning to sweep over the nation. Meanwhile, Pre-Carnival Pageant events have also been happening. These events kicked off with the introduction of the eight Miss CCB Talented Teen Contestants to the public on May 26th, 2002 as part of the Miss Leeward Islands Talented Teen Pageant. A number of Primary Schools also held Talent Shows to identify their contestants for the Prince and Princess Show, while the Miss Anguilla Queens Committee formally presented the five contestants for this year’s Pageant at Elodias Restaurant on Sunday June 30, 2002. In the area of Boat racing, the only major changes will see the venue for the August Tuesday Boat race moved from Island Harbour to Shoal Bay, while the August Wednesday race will finish in Sandy Ground instead of Blowing Point. A welcome addition to the Boat racing activities will also be the staging of model boat races between the official races on August Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. On
the administrative front, the hard work continues behind the scenes
to raise sponsorship funds and support for Summer Festival 2002.
Marketing initiatives are already underway with the popular Carnival
Theme song, produced by Judgement Studios and performed by Audrea
Hennis and the Extreme Band, being heard on all National stations
along with the Carnival line up, as well as at all pre-carnival
promotions and events. Also ongoing is the hanging of the Carnival
Banners around the island, while the release of the official Summer
Festival Poster and the enhancement of the Airport and Ferry terminals
will soon be completed. Spotlight
On… The “Train the Trainer” Tourism Workshop on the Teaching of Tourism to Primary Schools was held in Barbados from June 19th to 21st, 2002. Anguilla’s representatives were Candis Niles, and Verrin Harrigan, a Primary School Teacher. The workshop, which was organized by CTO in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism in Barbados, had as its objectives:
Twenty -seven (27) participants from 9 of CTO’s member countries attended the event. While the majority of participants (18 persons) were from the Tourism and Hospitality sector, 9 persons were also present from the Education field. The highlight of the Workshop was a presentation by Ms Essie Gardner of the Jamaica Tourist Board on the infusion method of teaching tourism. Participants were also given the opportunity to actively apply the infusion method to three areas of the curriculuum: Language Arts, Health Science, and Music. The Challenge presented by this workshop will be how to approach the teaching of Tourism in Anguilla’s Primary Schools. Currently, Tourism is taught as part of the Social Studies syllabus in class Six. The Hello Tourist program which is also being offered in class 6 is helping to boost the teaching of tourism at this level. However, CTO is proposing that Tourism be taught across the Board from Kindergarten to Grade Six, and across all relevant syllabi, through the modules which have been specially formulated for the Primary Schools. While this would ensure that Tourism is accessible to all Primary students on a relatively continuous basis, the real issue involves the logistics of introducing the infusion method to all the primary school teachers, and monitoring its implementations across the various curriculum areas.
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Calendar of Events July 19
- Calypso Semi-Finals |
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Stat Facts SUMMARY:MAY 2002 There were 7,860 visitor arrivals to Anguilla in May 2002. This represents an increase of 16.8% from the 6,727 visitor arrivals recorded in May 2001. Comparison with previous years are also encouraging, as the May 2002 total represents the highest number of May visitor arrivals since 1999. The year to date total, however, shows a decline of 2.6% compared to the first five months of 2001. The increase in May visitor arrivals was primarily driven by excursionist arrivals. There were 4,083 excursionist arrivals during the month. This represents an increase of 47.8% from the 2,762 excursionist arrivals recorded in May 2001. The year to date total is also encouraging, having increased by 12.1% relative to the same period in 2001. Tourist arrivals continue to perform sluggishly. There were 3,777 tourist arrivals to Anguilla in May 2002. This represents a decline of 4.7% from the 3,965 tourist arrivals recorded in May 2001. On a positive note, however, this was the smallest of the monthly declines recorded for 2002 relative to the corresponding months last year. The year to date figures show tourist arrivals to be down by 12.4% compared to the first five months of 2001. The United States continues to be Anguilla’s major source of visitors. In May 2,416 tourists and 1,495 excursionists came from the United States. This represents 63.9% of tourist visitors and 36.6% of excursionists, respectively. It should be noted, however, that the number of tourist arrivals from the United States in May 2002 decreased relative to the 2002 first quarter arrivals. This is primarily a reflection of the seasonality which characterizes tourism demand from Northern markets in general. On the other hand, tourist arrivals from other Caribbean Islands increased in importance to 18% in May compared to 11% for the first quarter of this year. Detailed tourism statistics tables are available from the Anguilla Government web site or by calling the Government Statistics Office at 497-3901. Note: The Anguilla Tourist Board apologizes for the absence of the “On the Rep Site” section for this month. Look for the Reps’ reports in the next issue. |
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The
Anguilla Tourist Board, the Department of Education and the Anguilla
Hotel and Tourism Association offer heartiest congratulations
to:
MR
DELROY LAKE
On winning the 2002
Betty Sperber Hello Tourist of the Year Award |