Dale Pusching, Eva Chan of Cap Juluca, Catherine Butchart of the Tourist Board and David Lyon of Cuisinart
Vision Travel's Carolyn O'Meara, Anguilla-bound, with David and Eva
One of Anguilla's 33 lovely beaches
Nice to hang out with the sales folks from Anguilla, even if for an evening in Toronto (as opposed to a day on one of the island’s lovely beaches). So it was good to hear that the island (whose name rhymes with vanilla) was hosting a reception at the annual Vision 2000 Travel Group conference at Toronto’s downtown Hilton Hotel.
“All islands have beaches, but no island has beaches quite like ours,” a proud Dale Pusching of the Anguilla Tourist Board in Canada told the agents. “All 33 of them!”
The island is also a great choice, she suggested, for foodie clients. “We are in a food crazy society and if you have clients who are foodies, it’s worth noting Anguilla has no all-inclusives – but over 100 restaurants.” Not bad for an island of just 14,000 inhabitants!
David Pierce of Vision 2000 recalled, “Great beaches, and lovely people.” As someone who has worked with the Tourist Board, I heartily concur!
Dale was also careful to address the issue of access, as the island doesn’t permit large commercial jets. Most Canadians fly into St. Martin and then hop on the 20 minute sea shuttle (covered speedboat) from its new terminal adjacent to the airport.
The island is also famous for its signature resorts: elegant Cuisinart – yes, opened by the appliance folks – currently has a stay-for-7-pay-for-5 promotion while Cap Juluca has a stay-for-5-pay-for-4 offer. The island’s legendary Malliouhana (mall-ee-oo-han-ah) Hotel is re-opening in February next year after a long closure and will feature a new 15,000 sq. ft. spa.
The area of most striking growth from Canada to Anguilla is the west… so appropriate that the lucky winner of stays at Cap Juluca and Cuisinart was Carolyn O’Meara of Vision 2000 in Victoria!
