Central location for domestic ferry schedules being worked on — BVITB
While the BVI Tourist Board (BVITB) does not have a centralised location where up-to-date schedules of domestic ferry trips can be found, plans are in the pipeline to remedy the situation.
The BVITB’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Keith Dawson said these schedules will be publicly available once the Tourist Board’s website is upgraded.
“We are actually upgrading the Tourist Board website and certainly that’s something we’ll be ensuring that’s done as well,” Dawson said in an interview with BVI News last evening.
“We’ll be reaching out to get information from these industry partners (ferry operators) … We are in the process of doing that. So yes, we will have that information on the website and we will try to keep it as up-to-date as possible,” Dawson told our news centre.
“We do [have] ferry scheduling information on our website per se, but I would say I am not sure if all the information is updated because the ferries have changed their schedule and have been changing their schedule from time to time based on the adjustments being made to the protocols. What we have been doing is posting them on our social media channels,” Dawson explained.
BVIPA listings
The PRO further said the BVI Ports Authority (BVIPA) had posted a ferry schedule for the resumption and eventual expansion of ferry trips between the BVI and St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. However, he noted a similar domestic ferry schedule for trips between local islands within the territory is not available.
Natasha Chalwell, the marketing director of the BVIPA, noted the Ports Authority does not usually publish the routes of ferries. However, the extraordinary circumstances with COVID-19 and the gradual reopening of the international ferry service made it necessary for the BVIPA to publish the specific ferry schedule for the trips between the BVI and the USVI.
Dawson’s and Chalwell’s invited comments follow a Facebook post from the local ferry service, Native Son Ferry, who complained about the the absence of central listing for all ferry schedules running to islands in the territory.
“It’s so confusing for travellers right now,” the ferry service stated. “The amount of calls, emails, WhatsApp messages and questions we get daily from people trying to figure out connections is unbelievable and unsustainable to answer.”
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How is it the Tourism Board job to post ferry schedules for Domestic ferry travel? Nonsense. That is not their responsibility. How is this even a news story?
This is a function of the Port Authority, because they have to determine the Port Schedule anyways. Tourist Board should stay out of it. Why does every government office feel the need to control things beyond their remit? The complaint is that the process needs to be simple and clear, so stop trying to complicate it! The K.I.S.S. principle prevails.
Tourist Board please focus on brand building. Please and thanks.
The Tourist Board already has the lists of ferries on their website with links to their websites. It would not be practical to have the ferry schedules posted as they change frequently. Sometimes trips are not made or schedules change seasonally. Therefore it is best to direct persons to the ferries so that the onus on them to update.
Perhaps the Tourist Board can rethink how it organizes the ferry listings on their website.
The BVI ferry schedules are not reliable, constantly changing and often confusing to visitors. Therefore many visitors to the Virgin Islands get off the plane in STT and don’t bother to ferry outside of the USVI.
If some BVI web site is supposed to fix this messed up ferry schedule – we are DOOMED!
Go back to the basics please. 1) Come up with a schedule to get people to they jobs and to school on time. 2) print up some schedules to post at the ferry docks. 3) we the people will take photos of that and pass it on
Trying to say some internet thing made by this government is going to work is just nonsense. I think the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and think it going to be different next time!!
We people of the BVI are not stupid. Just look at when we need to be to jobs and when we need to be back home and do that! We will figure out how to get on the ferry and tell people – just come up with something and stick to it!!
The government always trying to control private sector business. Why is this even a story?