Malliouhana Travel & Tours Ltd

In Depth

Malliouhana Travel & Tours Ltd is a local organiser and tour company based in the island of Anguilla in the North-eastern Caribbean. The company offers a variety of services related to travel as well as activities on and around the island. These include transfers on arrival and departure (which can include the boat transfer from St Maarten if you wish), tours around Anguilla and day sails or boat trips to the islands offshore, even trips to other islands. They can also organise events for you in Anguilla, say a wedding or a conference. Finally, the company has a travel agency and it is the representative on the island of several major tour operators.

Malliouhana Travel & Tours is based in the Quarter – on the cross-roads at the traffic lights in the Valley. It is run jointly by Ann Gumbs, manager of the tours department, and Paula Richardson, who oversees the travel department. Formed in 1982, the company has grown steadily with the growth of tourism in the island itself and there are now eight people working in the office, two mainly involved in the travel agency and the others on the tours and events side. Initially much of the company’s business was as a travel agency, working with the Government of Anguilla and major island companies such as Cable and Wireless, but then in the late 1980s, as tourism on the island began to take off, so they started to run tours of the island. They also began to offer transfers for arriving passengers. The company has a number of vehicles which are used for both of these things.

More recently, out of their contacts on the island and their experience with ground arrangements, another aspect of the business has grown. Malliouhana Travel & Tours is able to help with organising an event in Anguilla for you. This might be a wedding, a corporate retreat or a small conference, along with all the organisation that takes place around it (for example side-trips and activities for participants or non-participants of the conference). Malliouhana Travel & Tours has the transport of course and they are able to contact the various hotels, villas or individuals that would be right for your particular needs.

Services

Malliouhana Travel & Tours can meet you on your arrival (and departure) on the island and transfer you to your hotel. This can be at either of the two main ports of entry, Wallblake Airport and the ferry terminal at Blowing Point, but equally they can also pick you up on arrival in St Maaten, where many of the international flights serving Anguilla arrive. From here they take you to the dock to catch a private transfer by boat (or shared, if you prefer). Then they will meet you at Blowing Point, the ferry terminal on the south side of the island and after Immigration they will transfer you to your hotel. In the same way they can collect you from a yacht.

The company can also offer a more general concierge service in case you want assistance with specific requests on island. This might include restaurant bookings, ordering and delivery of cakes or champagne. And of course they are ideally positioned to offer a customized tour of the island.

Destination Management

Destination Management is a service generally provided to travel organisers, but independent travellers may be interested to see the types of services included in a ‘package’ or flight-inclusive holiday booked through a tour operator/travel organiser. In the UK and Europe it is a legal requirement for all companies selling flight-inclusive vacation packages to provide a local representative/ground handler for their clients, together with 24-hour emergency cover.

Malliouhana Travel & Tours look after several of the leading Caribbean specialist tour operators/wholesalers and their clients. They provide a service that includes a representative (reps are their face on the island), whose job is to oil the wheels of their clients’ holiday. Services on offer to travel companies, tour operators and wholesalers, as well as to all corporate and incentive travel group include:

• Hotel Recommendations
• Contract Recommendations
• Hotel Reservations
• Airport Meet & Greet Service
• Limo, tax, van and coach transfers
• Welcome Package
• Tours & Excursions
• Reconfirmation of Flights
• Customised Client Services
• 24 hour access and emergency cover

Tours of Anguilla

Malliouhana Travel & Tours offers a tour of Anguilla called A Taste of the Rock. The island is not really big enough for much more than this, but the tour can be tailored to suit a special interest if you have one. There are art tours (there are many galleries on the island), a history tour and if you are interested in, say, birds or nature, then they will find a guide for you.

If Anguilla is fairly limited on land, the island has developed a speciality in tours to its off-shore islands. These include excellent day trips to Scilly Cay, Sandy Island and Prickly Pear. Usually lunch is laid on as part of the trip.

Malliouhana Travel and Tours also arranges deep sea fishing trips.

Island Hopping

The region around Anguilla is ideal for island hopping. There is good variety in terms of geography - Saba and St Kitts and Nevis are unexpectedly tall and lush – and culture. St Barths is French and St Martin, which is right on the doorstep, is half Dutch and half French. Also in terms of shopping. St Maarten sells just about everything and St Barths has leading French fashion marques.

Some islands are accessible by sea. Malliouhana Travel & Tours is happy to charter a boat for you to go to St Martin, which is just 20 minutes from Blowing Point and there is an occasional boat trip to St Barths aswell during the season. If you would prefer to fly then the company would be happy to arrange a private charter with an Anguillian airline.

Weddings

Malliouhana Travel & Tours are happy to arrange a wedding or an event for you. The island has some of the most spectacular beaches in the whole Caribbean of course – most weddings are held there - but there are also some lovely settings on the island too, in the various hotels and villas, which can be ideal for a reception or a birthday party. Crystal Connor is the link person who will make sure that all the arrangements are in place for you. She has call on the best that the island has to offer (and what St Martin next has too), including cake-makers, florists, photographers, videographers and of course caterers (many of Anguilla’s excellent restaurants are happy to do outside catering for an event).

Malliouhana Travel & Tours will guide you through the regulations, which are as follows:
- Two witnesses are required
- Both parties must be on Anguilla for 3 days prior to getting married to acquire the Special Marriage Licence which takes 48 hrs to process

The following Original Documents are required from both parties:

- Passports and airline tickets
- Birth Certificates
- Passports
- If divorced, original or notarised copy of Decree Absolute
- If widowed, original Death Certificate of deceased spouse
- The cost for the Special Marriage Licence is currently US$284, unless one of the partners has resided in Anguilla for 15 days prior to the wedding. In this case the cost is US$40, payable in cash
- An EC$100 stamp duty is payable

The marriage ceremony must be performed by a minister or magistrate, who will require the special marriage licence. Licences are obtained from the Judicial Department in The Valley during week-days between 8.30 am and 2.30 pm and takes approximately 48 hours or two business days to process.

Civil weddings performed by a magistrate rather than a priest or a minister, can only be conducted at The Magistrate’s Court, which is open from 10am to 3pm, Monday to Friday. Ministers will marry couples at their chosen location be it on the beach, at a hotel, villa etc. Additional arrangements and fees are payable if you opt for a church wedding. The fee for the minister in this case will be US$100 plus charges for organ music, a choir and so on.

In order to get married in the Catholic Church you will need to provide confirmation papers, baptismal certificate, freedom to marry papers from your own church, where you should also consult with your parish priest before planning your wedding on Anguilla.

Please note that all costs shown are subject to change without notice so please check with Malliouhana Travel and Tours when you contact them.