March 2003 Visitor Survey Report

Airline agents and the tax collectors at Blowing Point were asked to hand out forms to all non-residents leaving Anguilla. One person could complete the form on behalf of the group or family. A total of 227 forms were completed and returned for February compared to 650 in January and 384 in February.

Tax officers at the airport gave out forms to those travelers who had not been given forms by the airline agents.

There were 186 forms completed by tourists i.e.: those who stay overnight. The forms were completed on behalf of 428 tourists and 120 excursionists. The tabulations are therefore mainly for tourists and not excursionists. The tabulations are based upon questionnaires rather than actual numbers of travelers as one questionnaire can represent more than one traveler.

Place of Residence

Country/Region of Residence	% January 2003 who completed survey	% February 2003 who completed survey	% March 2003 who completed survey

U.S. North East	52.4%	52.0%	45.4%
U.S. North West	5.8%	4.1%	1.6%
US Rest	14.2%	15.1%	11.4%
Total United States	72.4%	71.2%	58.4%

United Kingdom	5.9%	9.6%	13.0%
Italy	1.0%	1.2%	1.6%
Germany	0.7%	0.9%	0.5%
France	0.5%	0.9%	0.5%
Other Europe	1.4%	2.3%	3.2%
Total Europe	9.5%	14.9%	18.8%

St. Martin/St Maarten	1.0%	0.6%	0.5%
Caribbean	9.3%	7.3%	15.1%
Canada	3.2%	4.1%	5.4%
Other	4.6%	2.0%	1.6%
	18.1%	14.0%	22.6%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

The representation of tourists who responded to the questionnaire by country of residence was somewhat below that of arrivals during the month of February 2003. Also, the questionnaire was completed by one member of a tourist party and not by all members of the party. The survey results show that 58% of tourists who left Anguilla in February were from the United States with the majority living in the North East. 13% were from the United Kingdom. The MoonSplash Festival (which attracts many visitors from the region) during the month of March contributed to the slight increase in visitors from the Caribbean region. 15% came from the neighboring islands compared to 7% in February.

Age of Tourists

The age distribution remained the same as for the previous two months of this survey. Most of the visitors to Anguilla in March were in the 40 and over age group. In March a quarter of the respondents were 40 years and older and 36% of the respondents were 50 years and older.

	January			February			March
Age Group	Males	Females	Total	Males	Females	Total	Males	Females	Total
Under 18	13.8%	13.0%	13.4%	5.8%	18.9%	12.0%	7.6%	6.4%	7.0%
18 - 29	20.6%	17.0%	18.9%	6.5%	7.7%	7.1%	6.7%	20.2%	13.6%
30 - 39	15.1%	20.1%	17.6%	11.0%	14.3%	12.6%	20.0%	18.3%	19.2%
40 - 49	18.1%	17.8%	18.0%	29.7%	19.1%	24.7%	23.3%	26.1%	24.8%
50 & over	32.4%	32.1%	32.2%	47.0%	40.0%	43.7%	42.4%	28.9%	35.5%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Travel Companions

Hotels were the accommodation of choice for those persons staying on Anguilla during March. Couples comprised 50% stay-over visitors during this month. Family/Children made up 15% while unaccompanied visitors made up 20% of those visiting in March.

Travel Companion	Friends/relatives	Hotel	Own property	Villa/apartment	Total
Alone	31.6%	50.0%	2.6%	15.8%	100.0%
Family	13.8%	51.7%	3.4%	31.0%	100.0%
Friend(s)	14.3%	57.1%	0.0%	28.6%	100.0%
Other	0.0%	100.0%	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
Spouse/partner	0.0%	68.5%	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
Total	15.2%	61.4%	1.6%	21.7%	100.0%

Airlines Used to Travel to Anguilla and Satisfaction

The majority of tourists used American Airlines to travel to Anguilla either directly or taking American to St. Martin and then the ferry. 39% of tourists used American in March compared to 47% in February 2003.

	January	February	March
American	56.6%	43.6%	37.3%
American and Other	4.2%	3.5%	1.5%
Caribbean Star	3.6%	1.5%	0.5%
Caribbean Star and Other	0.7%	2.6%
Liat	9.3%	11.3%	27.0%
Liat and Other	1.9%	3.2%	3.1%
Winair	2.2%	3.2%	1.6%
Winair and Other	2.0%	2.3%	1.6%
US Airways	7.5%	9.0%	11.4%
Air Canada		0.6%	0.5%
Air France		2.0%	2.2%
BWIA		0.3%	0.5%
Delta		2.6%	1.1%
Virgin Atlantic		0.9%
Private plane	1.0%	1.2%
Charter	0.8%	1.2%
British Airways			2.2%
KLM			1.1%
Other	10.2%	11.0%	5.9%

In February 8% of visitors said they had trouble booking their flights compared to 10% in January. 3% said they had problems due to cost and 5% had problems because the flights they wanted were not available due to the time when the reservations were made.

Travel Route to Anguilla

During March, around 43% of Anguilla’s tourists traveled to St. Martin first to get to Anguilla. Out of that 43%, 39% took the ferryboat from St. Martin. 23% traveled via Antigua this month compared to 12% in February and 23% traveled to Anguilla via Puerto Rico during March.

	January	February	March
St Maarten, then ferry	22.7%	40.9%	39.5%
St Maarten, then fly	10.0%	9.0%	3.8%
Puerto Rico	48.0%	29.9%	23.2%
Antigua	9.7%	11.9%	23.2%
Other	9.7%	8.2%	10.3%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Length of Tourists’ Stay

The majority of tourists who departed in February stayed for 4 –7 days while 19% stayed for less than a week. 28% stayed for 2 weeks or more in March compared to 32% in February. The average length of stay for tourists visiting Anguilla in February was 9 days.

	January	February	March
1 - 3 days	11.7%	10.4%	18.9%
4 - 7 days	35.6%	57.2%	52.4%
8 - 15 days	43.1%	28.4%	25.9%
16 - 23 days	5.9%	1.7%	1.1%
24 or more days	3.7%	2.0%	1.6%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Sources of Information About Anguilla

The majority of tourists heard about Anguilla from relatives or friends. Travel agents and the Internet had the same degree of importance for first time visitors in hearing about Anguilla. 11% of first time tourists heard about Anguilla from both the Internet and through a travel agent.

Sources of Information About Anguilla	Repeat Visitor	First visit	Total

Friends or relatives	42.1%	51.2%	46.4%
The Internet	1.1%	10.7%	5.6%
Travel Agent	13.7%	10.7%	12.3%
Other	43.2%	27.4%	35.8%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Where does Tourists Stay?

61% of Anguilla’s tourists stayed in hotels in February. Around 22% stayed in villas or apartments and 16% stayed either with family and friends or their own property.

	January	February	March
Hotel	53.6%	59.3%	61.1%
Villa/apartment	22.4%	29.6%	21.6%
Friends/relatives	17.0%	7.5%	15.1%
Own property	6.6%	3.7%	1.6%
Boat	0.4%	0.0%	0.0%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Main Purpose of Visit

The main purpose of tourists for visiting Anguilla was for vacation. 73% gave this as their main purpose. There was a significant increase in business travelers during March of 10%, while those coming for vacation purposes dropped 15%.

	January	February	March
Vacation/leisure	78.0%	88.4%	73.0%
Visit family/friends	8.5%	2.3%	6.5%
Business	7.1%	5.2%	15.7%
Scuba Diving/Snorkeling	2.2%	0.0%	0.0%
Honeymoon	2.0%	2.3%	2.7%
Festival	0.0%	0.0%	0.5%
Health	0.5%	0.6%	0.0%
Other	1.7%	1.5%	0.0%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Potential Attractions

For this survey, respondents were asked if they were considering a return visit to Anguilla how certain attractions would affect their decision. The responses given reiterated those in February. As in the previous results, none of the four attractions listed would attract visitors to make a return visit but most were in favour of a Yacht Marina for which 31% said they would be attracted to make a return visit. The attractions that would most deter them to make a return visit were a casino and cruise ships. Just over 60% said that both these attractions would be a deterrent. 51% said they would be deterred by time-shares.

Tourist Expenditures

One third of tourists who visited Anguilla in March spent more than US$300 per person per night on accommodation. As is to be expected, those staying in their own property or staying with friends or relatives tend to pay nothing. 48% of tourists staying at hotels paid more than US$300 per night per person.

Accommodation cost per person per night	Friends/relatives	Hotel	Own property	Villa/apartment	Total
$0	64.3%	1.8%	33.3%	2.5%	11.9%
US$1 - $49	7.1%	3.5%	0.0%	12.5%	5.9%
US$50 - $99	0.0%	7.1%	0.0%	17.5%	8.1%
US$100 -$149	0.0%	9.7%	0.0%	12.5%	8.6%
US$150 - 199	0.0%	6.2%	0.0%	5.0%	4.9%
US$200 - 249	0.0%	8.8%	0.0%	10.0%	7.6%
US$250 - $299	0.0%	8.8%	0.0%	15.0%	8.6%
US$300 or more	0.0%	46.0%	0.0%	22.5%	33.0%
NS	28.6%	8.0%	66.7%	2.5%	11.4%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

4% of tourists in March spent nothing on eating. 19% spent less than US$50 per person per day and just under a quarter of the respondents spent more than US$200 per person per day.

Eating costs per person per day	% January	% February	% March

$0	2.3%	1.7%	4.3%
US$1 - $49	20.8%	17.4%	19.3%
US$50 - $99	22.1%	23.5%	20.0%
US$100 - $149	21.4%	22.7%	16.2%
US$150 - $199	10.4%	11.3%	13.0%
US$200 or more	17.4%	19.2%	22.7%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

The cost of the flight paid per person will vary by the country from which tourists come. Tourists traveling from the United Kingdom have the widest range of costs for their flights. 8% paid less than US$500 and at the other end of the scale 20% paid more than US$3,000. On the other hand those from the United States tend to pay between US$500 - $1,000. As is expected visitors from the Caribbean pay less than US$500 to travel to Anguilla.

	Cost of Flight

Residence	Less than $500	$500 - $999	$1,000 - $1,999	$2,000 - $2,999	$3,000 or more	N.S.	Total
Canada	0.0%	50.0%	20.0%	10.0%	10.0%	10.0%	100.0%
Caribbean	69.0%	24.1%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	6.9%	100.0%
Europe	36.4%	36.4%	18.2%	9.1%	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
U.S North East	25.0%	52.4%	15.5%	2.4%	0.0%	4.8%	100.0%
U.S North West	0.0%	33.3%	66.7%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
U. S. Rest	28.6%	42.9%	19.0%	0.0%	0.0%	9.5%	100.0%
U.K.	8.3%	16.7%	12.5%	0.0%	41.7%	20.8%	100.0%
Other	66.7%	0.0%	33.3%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%

Activities

The most popular activity for March was the Island tour followed by snorkeling where just around 16% and 14% respectively of the tourists said they enjoyed. One fifth took a tour of Anguilla and 26% took a trip to our neighboring islands. 9% indulged in a spa treatment in and 9% took a trip to the neighboring islands. There was a significant increase in business travelers during March of 10%, while those coming for vacation purposes dropped 15% hence the low participation in the various activities.

Activities	% who participated in January	% who participated in February	% who participated in March
Bird watching	10.0%	4.0%	2.7%
Dolphin swim	8.8%	7.2%	2.7%
Fishing	5.0%	1.7%	1.6%
Island tour	35.1%	20.7%	15.7%
Museum	2.9%	2.6%	0.5%
Nature trail	8.6%	8.6%	3.2%
Scuba diving	7.9%	4.3%	2.7%
Snorkeling	49.8%	39.1%	13.5%
Spa treatment	28.7%	26.1%	8.6%
Trip to neighboring islands	32.8%	25.9%	9.2%
Trip to offshore cays	21.5%	14.7%	6.5%

Satisfaction with Services

Tourists were most satisfied with Peace and tranquility, with 97% rating it as good, Safety and security and Accommodation were rated as good by over three quarters of the tourists. 84% also said that the Customs and Immigration Services were good. 21% said that the roads needed some work. 66% rated the Island’s cleanliness as good.

	Good	OK	Poor	Total
Cleanliness	66.5%	29.7%	2.7%	100.0%
Peace	97.3%	2.2%	0.0%	100.0%
Service	87.6%	10.3%	1.6%	100.0%
Safety	88.1%	9.7%	0.5%	100.0%
Roads	16.8%	60.5%	21.6%	100.0%
Dining	89.2%	8.6%	0.0%	100.0%
Accommodation	91.4%	5.4%	0.0%	100.0%
Taxi	70.8%	10.8%	1.1%	100.0%
Telephone & Internet	51.4%	28.1%	6.5%	100.0%
Customs & Immigration	83.8%	12.4%	0.5%	100.0%