How would you define the collaboration that exists between the public and private sector in order to increase awareness of Antigua as a tourist destination?

The cooperation is pretty good. The private sector is very much involved in the governance of the authority and that helps to ensure that what we do works for the private sector, particularly in marketing overseas. It is important that they are the beneficiaries, so the collaboration is very strong and they are well-represented.
As a result of this cooperation, we are able to do a lot more with the resources that we have.
For example, most of our marketing budget comes from a 2% tax that’s levied on hotel rooms in Antigua and Barbuda. This funds the authority, so private stakeholders have a direct interest in what we do as an authority and how we do it. We ensure that we are all on the same page and our marketing strategies align in order to get the best result for the country.

“We have strong leadership from the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, where we feel that failure is not an option. We know that we have to deliver for this nation, so we go out and we get it done. The future is extremely bright.”

What would you say is behind Antigua’s current tourism boom?

We have been worked pretty hard in source markets, looking at where our visitors are coming from and ensuring that we are prioritising our resources in these markets. For example, the United States now contributes 38% of our visitor arrivals. In 2016, we had 108,000 visitors from the USA. It was the first time we crossed the 100,000 mark. It was a great milestone and it also means that we now have to put more resources in the US market. We have also been able to work very strongly with our distribution channels, both through traditional methods like travel agents and tour operators, and through online travel agents. A lot of the business coming now into Antigua and Barbuda is coming first through online travel agents. We are one of the stronger partners of Expedia in the region. We are active on social media and do a lot of marketing through our website in an effort to harness the internet as much as possible as a marketing tool.

What message would you like to send to potential international investors in the tourism sector in Antigua?

Antigua and Barbuda is a destination where you can be guaranteed a good return on your investment. The business climate in Antigua and Barbuda has been geared toward private sector growth and development. The policies of the government have made it easy to invest and to repatriate funds. We are seeing the fruits of that now. Our airport was recently judged the second best in the entire Caribbean region.
We are about to see strong growth, not just in air arrivals but from the sea as well. Quantum class ships can now dock safely in St. John’s and by November of this year we will have the Oasis class, which carries over 6,000 passengers and 3,000 crew. We are positioning ourselves to take advantage of that.

Mr. James, it is said that there can be no success without good leadership. What is your leadership philosophy?

My leadership philosophy is to empower the people that I lead to get the job done. I give them the resources that they need and turn their creativity loose. I much prefer someone with a pound of attitude and an ounce of skill to the other way around. You can always train someone to do any job. If they have that attitude and that creativity, particularly in marketing and in using the online space, size really doesn’t matter. We have proven that, we’re an island of less than 100,000 people but we’ve been able to punch above our weight because of the strong human capital that we have. We have strong leadership from the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, where we feel that failure is not an option. We know that we have to deliver for this nation, so we go out and we get it done. The future is extremely bright.