BVI tourism outperforming global projections
Figures from the 2024 budget show that the BVI’s tourism sector is making a stellar comeback, and is already outperforming global projections for the travel industry.
While presenting the 2024 national budget this week, Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley said the sector has also shown great resilience despite serious challenges over the last several years.
“The recovery [from the September 2017 hurricanes] was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but from the moment we reopened our international borders in December 2020, the visitor arrivals have been consistently climbing. Tourist arrivals in 2022 were back up to 58.6% of total 2019 visitors,” Premier Wheatley stated.
He said by the end of the year, visitor arrivals in the BVI are projected to surpass 2019 figures, with an estimated 978,052 visitors to the territory. Cruise and day trip visitors are expected to reach 736,413 persons. The Premier boasted that the BVI is experiencing this growth in arrivals even as the United Nations World Tourism Organisation experts continue to debate whether international tourism will reach 2019 levels in 2024 or 2025.
The BVI is also experiencing steady growth in the accommodation sector, which is also directly tied to tourism. Tax revenue from hotel accommodation is expected to be $7.18 million by year-end. This is in line with the initial estimates, and close to $500,000 above 2022 receipts.
Other tourism-related areas that grew in 2023 include taxes from motor vehicle rentals, which are expected to hit $147,764 by year-end, or 3.5% above the initial projections, and 11.53% more than 2022. Cruising permits revenue stands at $4.10 million compared to $4.19 million in the previous year.
The figure is expected to surpass $4.19 million by year-end. Tourist arrival levy revenues have been much higher than expected. For 2023, this levy is estimated at $2.24 million. This is more than $545,000 above the initial estimates, and a 24.07% increase over 2022 figures.
Tourism is the second largest revenue earner for the BVI and one that most ordinary residents come in contact with. Despite the increase in tourism revenues, stakeholders and many residents believe the government should spend more money on areas and infrastructure that are heavily used by visitors so the tourism industry can see even more growth.
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Where are these numbers coming from?
Is there any real proof of any of these “expected” numbers that us brain dead, gullible taxpayers can have a peek at?
I do not believe thus man.
nice dream. wake up, smell the coffee and tell the people the real truth.
over in STT and STJ their tourism industry is outperforming the BVI’s because those islands actually have the infrastructure to attract visitors. There are no ‘tourists in a pothole’ photos touring the internet from STT or STJ!
Really think we are all jackasses!
Ask the tourism based businesses and you will get the hard facts.
Imagine places like St. Vincent that just got into the cruise ship and tourism business has an International Airport getting cruise ship calls from Carnival, Norwegian and queen Mary..Grenada another one just come the same thing, don’t talk about St. Kitts they too came in the game after us and gone waay ahead they have two massive cruise ship docks, we still here struggling with one. We don’t have an int’l Airport, we cant get carnival to come, we can’t get Norwegian to stay longer than 2pm..Where is the progress.?
Lets be clear, any increase in tourism is in spite of, not because of, what the government is doing.
The government and its world beating bureaucracy and petty interference is the greatest barrier to expansion of the tourist industry in the BVI.
Which cretin thought it would be a good idea to tax tourists on arrival?
And the Tourist Board is a complete waste of money.
Tek care one of them mampie don’t dislocate them knee in a pothole and sue
Fake News!