Day-trippers flocking BVI, 28% increase compared to last year
Visitors coming from a cruise ship that was docked in the territory recently. (BVI News photo)
Notwithstanding declines in overnight visitors and cruise arrivals, day tripper statistics have shown an impressive increase this year when compared to last year, the BVI Tourist Board has reported.
More than 11,000 day-trippers visited the BVI between January and September of 2017 but that figure increased by 28 percent this year.
Those rising numbers could be attributed to a strong effort to recover the local tourism industry since the 2017 hurricanes. Despite this effort, other statistics indicate that the BVI is still at a considerable distance away from pre-hurricane standards.
According to a recent report from the BVI Tourist Board, overnight visitor arrivals between January and September of this year has dipped by 56 percent when compared to the corresponding period last year.
Some 334,630 overnight visitors were recorded during that period last year. That number dropped to 133,425 this year, the Tourist Board has reported.
One of the main reasons for this disparity is the fact accommodation is still a challenge since some of the territory’s major resorts are still under reconstruction.
Another massive decline in the tourism industry is seen in the cruise sector, which comes as no surprise since major cruise ships such as Disney and Norwegian cruises only started returning to the territory weeks ago.
Working with the same January to September timeline, stats from the Tourist Board show an 88 percent decline in cruise arrivals this year when compared to 2017.
Cruise arrivals were a 409,723 last year and 45,785 this year.
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Make it easier and more affordable, they will come. What about lowering the fees paid by boaters. What about facilitating ferries access directly to some locations such as Jost Van Dyke ?
That is an amazing headline. If you read the statistics you will find:
– Cruise ship visitors DOWN 88%
– Overnight visitors DOWN 56%
– Day trippers (who spend little money) UP 28%
I think we are focussing on the wrong thing here…
Clean it up… they will come. not before
Dat rite dis place all mash up STILL an ppl not cleaning trash.
@Windy@Duck:
We did and yes we are doing somethings right.
Praise and thanks for our success. May good fortune continue to be ours.
Negativity attracts negativity. We,in general, being so Christian and everything should delve into the gratitude and positivity effect. Amen.
Who is that lady in the Daisey Dukes…….
Well lookie here…..this against a decrease in almost 60% overnight visitors. Yes; I know the majority of hotels are still down and villas that got touched up still are undergoing repairs; however, our competitors (SXM, USVI) have managed a much more concerted effort in getting back up to par. What are the real issues here in the VI?
Which part of the USVI is ‘up to par’??? Parts of SXM still look like Irma hit yesterday. The BVI has a lot of work left to be done but don’t make it seem as though we are so far behind everyone else.
Prices were always HIGH and add in DRUGS AND CRIME and the Hurricane.Lets think about that!
Does the stats included Airbnb and others? Did we do a deal with them to collect hotel accomodation tax like USVI and promotion? Are we still pushing high end destination only? We can diversify our offerings and still differentiate.