Anguilla - a Changing Economy and a Changing Culture

Anguilla

A Changing Economy and a Changing Culture

The Caribbean has long drawn tourists to its beautiful beaches and tropical isles. The islands that make up the Caribbean all have their own histories, cultures, and atmospheres. Some Caribbean islands became tourist hot spots decades ago, and others are only beginning to develop their tourist industry. The island of Anguilla has recently emerged as the "it" location for celebrities and the wealthy alike. This paper will discuss the current economic situation in Anguilla and the evolution of Anguilla from an arid island to the number one tourist destination in the Caribbean. It will further address the historical and cultural factors that have made the island so appealing to the wealthy, and lastly discuss how the growth and development on the island has influenced the culture of the islands inhabitants both positively and negatively.

Anguilla is a very arid island; the island itself is a coral atoll that is home to some of the most magnificent beaches in the world. Anguilla has actually been named in many travel periodicals as having the best beaches in the Caribbean and is home to Shoal Bay East, which Conde Nast Traveler among others have ranked as the "best beach in the world." Aside from the beauty along the shoreline the terrain is flat and the soil on the island is devoid of nutrients. The island was originally inhabited by the Arawaks, a native tribe who traveled around several of the local Caribbean islands to farm and fish. Anguilla was ultimately settled by the British who brought slaves to the island to farm. Upon arrival they realized that the land was too arid to farm, thus the idea of building plantations was abandoned. The settlers freed the slaves, gave them land and they all attempted to subsist off the arid land together as one group of people. Blacks and whites cooperated and interbred. The islanders then and now lack the characteristics of racial discrimination primarily due to the fact that they were all working together as free people for the betterment of each other. This is a unique characteristic of a Caribbean island citizenry as most other islands histories revolved around plantation systems. This small island had virtually no crime as everyone was poor together. The first paved road on Anguilla was not built until the mid-70s, electricity was sparse and the islanders walked everywhere on the 3 mile wide by 16 mile long island. As time progressed and more vehicles came to the island hitchhiking became commonplace, the lack of crime made no one second guess picking up a stranger. Many people still hitchhike today.

Tourists discovered Anguilla as a day trip from St. Maarten. St. Maarten lies three miles to the south of the island and is only a seventeen minute ferry ride away. St. Maarten developed early on and emerged as one of the premier islands for Caribbean tourism. St. Maarten visitors ventured to Anguilla to enjoy the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean and experience the low-key friendly locals. This led to a Taxi business, a port business and a car rental industry. These are all now protected businesses in Anguilla. In fact, the taxi drivers are among the most influential and prosperous groups on the island as they were one of the first groups to make real money and purchase land with their savings. At the time of their purchases land prices were cheap and there was no other place to spend their money. Taxi drivers play an important part today in local Anguillan politics. Several represent a potion of the island as elected representatives of their particular constituency in government politics, and ultimately help determine how the island will be developed in the future.

Anguilla was originally a member of the Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla union with St. Kitts and Nevis. In the early 80's St. Kitts and Nevis attempted to coerce Anguilla to join them in a fight for the freedom of their respective countries from British rule. Anguillan citizens resisted the invitation feeling that the best chance to better their lives was as a cooperative nation under British rule. This decision proved to be a wise one as they have consistently governed themselves in alliance with British law and principles as well as enjoying the privilege of British passports and open schooling if they choose in England. One problem with the size of Anguilla is that Anguilla does not have a college on the island, so those wishing to continue their education must move elsewhere. It has become a common trend among those pursuing upper level education that once they leave the island they rarely return. This has been primarily due to the low demand for highly educated jobs on the island as well as the hard transition of moving back to such a small community. Hence, Anguillans with upper level education have rarely invested their education back into the island.

Anguilla was originally developed by boutique hoteliers who catered to the very affluent. The few hotels that first existed on the island had no locks on their doors. This feeling of safety was one of the unique charms that Anguilla possessed. Housekeeping staff at the hotels doubled as babysitters, and it was not uncommon for guests to let their children go to the housekeepers' home and play with her children. Tourists would dance and mingle with the locals at local beach bars, fish fry's, and carnivals; and never hesitated to pick up a hitchhiker. In the early days pre major development Anguilla truly was a relaxing haven.

The island was fortunate to have a developer build a resort on arguably one of the best beaches in the whole Caribbean, not just Anguilla. The resort was named Cap Juluca and was featured prominently on a TV series entitled "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." Cap Juluca still wins on a consistent basis the best Hotel in the Caribbean award as determined by Conde Nast Magazine, and in fact Anguilla generally places 3 of the top 5 hotels in this category. These awards and the reputation of the Anguillan people as being friendly to outsiders, obedient of civilized laws (no crime) and the additional discovery of the myriad of fantastic local beaches has led to the desire of outside developers to develop more property in Anguilla. This demand by for development has placed a lot of stress on all the resources of the island, both it's natural resources, and people.

The native population sits at approximately 13,000 which is small in size to support the tremendous growth demands of outside developers. As mentioned the influx of development has led to a significant change in the Anguillan social climate. Local employment is currently around 100% which places a great deal of pressure on the social infrastructure.