Anguilla has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the Caribbean’s most sought-after “undiscovered” destinations by connoisseurs of travel from around the world. Now, thanks to an innovative new brand marketing campaign, Anguilla is poised to increase awareness and visitor arrivals from North America.  The Anguilla Tourist Board is set to unveil a marketing initiative built around the concept of “The Anguilla Experience.” The concept, created in partnership with the New York City advertising agency, Irwin Slater, is designed to showcase the island as a place where the whole is far greater than the sum of its impressive parts. The team also includes the marketing/public relations firm, The Portfolio Marketing Group, which has created some of the supporting collaterals.

“Anguilla is one of the few remaining destinations that can lay claim to providing the idyllic tropical vacation,” said Amelia Vanterpool-Kubisch, Director of Tourism of the Anguilla Tourist Board. “Beaches are the starting point for any exotic Caribbean vacation, and in Anguilla, one can find thirty-three pristine, powder-soft strands. We are home to 100 restaurants offering a variety of dining experiences and our unique history and culture can be experienced through our various art forms.  But it is the warm, welcoming, full-sized hearts of Anguillians that make our visitors become Anguillian aficionados, who come back to the island again and again. This is the essence of The Anguilla Experience and what this campaign is all about.”

The tagline for the campaign, “Feeling is Believing,” is a further nod to a destination with an appeal so powerful it must be experienced to be understood. “We set out to create an aesthetically rich campaign because aesthetics are the language of feeling,” Vanterpool-Kubisch continued, “and ‘feeling is believing!’”

The Anguilla Experience campaign will also be highlighted by distinctive visuals to showcase the island’s natural beauty. These visuals will include a new logo for the destination. The logo features bright pastel colors and a clean typeface to provide a feeling of sophistication, and its distinctive and fresh elliptical-shaped symbol subtly suggests an island in the sea.

The campaign will also showcase the work of New York photographer Roberto D’Addona, capturing the essence of The Anguilla Experience and further enticing future visitors to see and feel the island for themselves.

Another key component of the Anguilla Experience is “The Charming Escapes,” a new program to highlight Anguilla’s diversity of lodging options. “We have earned much attention for our spectacular 5-Star Hotels,” said Donna Banks, Assistant to the Chief Minister. “What many do not know is that Anguilla also has a range of affordable hotels, villas and inns that allows all travelers to experience the beauty, intimacy, privacy and friendliness that help make up an Anguilla vacation.”

The Charming Escapes designation provides a “seal of approval” for the island’s leading mid-market properties. While each of the 16 properties is unique in its own way, many boast a variety of shared attributes, from stunning ocean views to beautifully landscaped grounds and more. What they all share in common is a warm and friendly staff that typifies the unique and uplifting spirit of its people.

The Anguilla Experience/Feeling is Believing campaign will be introduced to trade and consumer audiences in the coming weeks through a variety of channels, including a new 24-page overall destination brochure and a brochure dedicated exclusively to the “Charming Escapes” initiative. 

Production is currently underway on a 6-minute promotional DVD designed to reposition the destination for trade and consumer audiences as well as a 4-minute DVD highlighting “The Charming Escapes.”

The communications efforts to support the campaign will be aimed at consumers and the travel trade alike. Audiences will soon be introduced to The Anguilla Experience through advertising on The Early Show on CBS-TV. At the same time, the campaign will nurture relationships with a carefully targeted travel agent audience, an effort that began recently through the “Alluring Anguilla Travel Agent Promotion.”

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