The twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda has a population of around 100,000 yet welcomes 700,000 cruise ship passengers annually. But officials are even more ambitious than that: they want to see a million tourists stopping here by 2019, and they have a plan to make it happen. Saiid Greene, Managing Director of the Antigua Pier Group, explains how a new generation of young Antiguans is working hard to provide visitors with a culturally unique, immersive experience that will go well beyond the classic shopping of the old days. With the right training and investment, Antiguans will soon be ready to show the world why this is one of the greatest destinations on Earth.
What is the role and mandate of the Antigua Pier Group (APG)?
One of our primary roles is to develop a highly positive cruise experience for tourists from Europe, US and also Asia. Our mandate is to ensure that we have a safe harbour and that our partners in the tourism industry such as taxis, water transportation operators, entertainment providers and others work in such a way that tourists will want to repeat their visit and tell their friends about the awesome experience they’ve had in Antigua.
What role do the shareholders play?
A major shareholder is Key Properties Limited, one of the top businesses in the area. They are also owners of one of the largest duty-free shopping centres in the capital, St John’s, and they have institutional experience that spans over four and a half decades. As partners, they bring a level of expertise, professionalism and enormous understanding of the market, both in terms of land-based tourism and cruise tourism.
You spoke about duty-free goods. What are some of the other benefits that cruise ship passengers can experience in Antigua?
When we opened our cruise business a quarter century ago, it was merely about brand names and great shops. Everyone wanted a Gucci or a Rolex. But the trend now is towards more leisure and entertainment, and we have had to retrofit the business to reflect that. As we go forward, duty-free shopping will continue to be part of the offer, of course. But we are moving towards a new reality where people want more of an authentic relationship with their destination.
We believe that investors will continue to look to the Caribbean and that this country will continue to maintain its healthy relationship with Britain.»
Today’s millennials are looking not so much to buy products as to experience the culture of a country. What differentiating element does Antigua and Barbuda offer the cruise ship passenger as part of that experience?
Our prime minister and our minister of tourism had the vision to get things moving in time. We were lagging behind for a while: ten years back, we lost considerable market share because we were not being attentive to the business of being competitive and relevant. But recently we have moved forward on a number of issues, particularly in facilities for large cruise ships, and leisure and entertainment offerings for cruise passengers. That’s where the investment has come in. Our focus is to make sure that we’re not left behind, to make sure that we have the facilities to berth the largest cruise ships in the world. But enlarging our piers is only the beginning. We also have to make sure that we have enough activities to keep cruise ship passengers busy and feeling that they are in the best destination for the entire period that they are ashore.
What are your company’s achievements?
We have experienced a meteoric rise. We have institutional experience, as we built the first pier here. We had one of the larger class of cruise ships make its maiden voyage in Antigua and had five consecutive visits during the winter season. But we are not sitting on our laurels. We understand that we’re not here to talk about history or about the past, but about the next thing we need to do. We are keeping pace with the trend towards bigger ships by securing investments that will ensure we have the space for those very large ships.
The cruise industry has doubled its figures since 1998, and now welcomes around 700,000 passengers a year. What kind of an impact does that have on the country?
It has a multiplier effect because all the owners of shops, souvenir vendors, taxi drivers and everyone in the transportation business, on water or land, are benefiting significantly. And entrepreneurs are looking at this and saying: “now this is something that I can invest in.” So as a result of this success, we are seeing greater levels of entrepreneurship and creativity by young Antiguans, and other investors outside the Caribbean, from Europe and North America are coming to Antigua. Investors feel that they can come here and build facilities in leisure and entertainment because the government has already made a commitment of its own. And we’re going to see the enormity of these investments soon, by 2022.
What do these cruise ship passengers want? At every port they are looking for a singular experience.»
What is your relationship with the cruise companies?
Cruise companies are always asking us about our next project and our plans to get passengers to come off the ships. Because yes, they come into the harbour, but as we all know, these are floating cities that are already well equipped with things that people need. So, the challenge for us is to be able to say that the things we have on offer in Antigua and Barbuda are worth coming off the ship for. We have something that is local and has cultural resonance which makes people enjoy themselves and tell their friends.
How will you entice them to get off the ship?
A new class of young entrepreneurs is beginning to understand that this is the direction things are going, that cruise passengers are looking for something that is culturally authentic in all types of iterations, whether music, art, or something else. And it’s majestic to circumnavigate Antigua on the Atlantic side, the Caribbean side and across the archipelago. And there is the warmth of the people, who always go out of their way to ensure you have a good time. And when you put all these things together, we are confident that by 2022 we will be leaders in cruise and land-based tourism, as we should have rightfully always been.
You project passion when you speak about these plans. What are your projections for the coming years?
We are hoping to reach 750,000 cruise passengers this year, and by 2019 we estimate that we will welcome one million passengers. We are confident that the infrastructure foundation has been laid solidly, enabling incremental increases in passengers. The build-up of land-based property is also on course, so we are confident that we will reach our goals. By 2022, the VC Bird International Airport will be the busiest within the region. The skies are the limit for us.
What role will the UK play in the coming years in terms of tourism arrivals and investment?
We have a common shared history. What we are expecting after Brexit is to tell our English friends that we appreciate the continuous way in which they have helped us build a large tourism economy. Within Europe, Britain is certainly our largest contributor. In the early days, in the 1950s, when we were building a tourism plan, it was British investors who played a major role in bringing FDI to get us started, so our orbital movement upwards is in no small part a result of British investment. We believe that where there are challenges, there are also opportunities, so we are looking at ways of strengthening that relationship, now that Britain is obviously going to have to look in other places for opportunities. We have a number of British investors who are already in Antigua, so we believe that investors will continue to look to the Caribbean and that this country will continue to maintain its healthy relationship with Britain.
When you arrive here, you should know that for a day, for a week, you are also an Antiguan.»
What specific kind of investment partnership could be achieved with the Antigua Pier Group?
We have one of the greatest countries in terms of being peaceful and having a well-trained, English-speaking population. We feel there are so many opportunities here. We have an archipelago of beautiful marinas. The APG is in ongoing talks to have water transportation going to the various islands including Barbuda, our sister island, and other islands in the vicinity. We would love to partner with British companies in these opportunities, and we invite them to come and see for themselves.
With every opportunity there are challenges. What are some of the challenges with regard to the cruise industry?
The challenges are basically the demands that they make on us to constantly improve and expand our offer. When you offload two, three, four, five and sometimes six ships in the harbour with over 12,000 passengers, the challenge is to ensure that everyone is enjoying themselves and has something to do. What do these cruise ship passengers want? At every port they are looking for a singular experience. And if we get it right, it will significantly increase our summer traffic, which is where our greatest challenge lies. And it’s not just about getting to that point – like our prime minister says, it’s about who gets there fastest. Getting there first will mean a significant turnaround in our fortunes because an entire generation of young people are depending on us to provide new opportunities for them. That’s what gets me going every morning when I wake up. And our prime minister is working hard too to turn Antigua into an economic powerhouse.
What is the Antigua Pier Group’s vision for the coming year, and what kind of social impact do you hope to have on the lives of Antiguans?
The real mission over the next year for us is to roll out a massive training for all stakeholders, especially our transportation providers, who are our first responders. We have to get the product right. Our cruise ship and land-based visitors must feel that this is the best place where they have arrived. And that is all about service. But you cannot achieve that if you do not invest in training. Training is going to deliver us the industry leadership more than anything else that we can invest in. Human resources must be refreshed according to new international tourism standards. So that’s where we’re going to be for the next year.
How would you describe the soul of Antigua and Barbuda?
We are beginning to see a new breed of Antiguan emerge, who is confident about our history and place on this Earth. We want to give our very best. When you arrive here, you should know that for a day, for a week, you are also an Antiguan. We are offering you our soul, so what you see is what you get. If you make it here, you have earned the right to experience our soul and discover why we are one of the finest destinations on Earth.
