Antigua Creates Centralized Tourism Agency

Harold Lovell, Antigua and Barbuda’s minister of tourism, is optimistic that a newly created tourism authority will enhance and strengthen the destination’s brand.

“The creation of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority will ensure that there is one central body to market the destination and all the products that make up the destination,” Lovell said in a report in the Antigua Sun.

Antigua and Barbuda hasn’t had a centralized tourism organization until now. The destination is struggling with low visitor numbers, layoffs in the tourism sector, bad press from the recent murder of an Australian yacht captain and the murders last July of a honeymoon couple from the U.K.

Colin James, CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, said that the entity would launch an emergency 90-day turnaround plan in collaboration with the Antigua Hotels and Tourist Association (AHTA).

“The primary objective of the 90-day plan is to market the Antigua and Barbuda destination brand to drive visitor arrivals from all source markets,” he said.