Gov’t offering special visa waiver to boost tourism
The British Virgin Islands will be relaxing its entry requirements by opening up the territory to select nationalities that currently need a visa to enter the territory.
This will be done through a special visa waiver initiative.
“Tourist arrivals will get an additional boost when we launch a special visitor’s visa waiver for persons from specific countries who may have been deterred from visiting the BVI due to current VISA restrictions,” Premier Fahie Andrew Fahie in a recent statement.
He continued: “Such persons would be able to visit the Virgin Islands on a one-month single entry visa once they have a return airline ticket and proof of secured and approved accommodation.”
The leader of government business did not specify the countries to which this visa waiver will apply. He also did not say when this initiative will take effect.
The Premier, however, said the initiative will benefit hotels, villas and other accommodations as well as car rentals, taxi and tour operators, restaurants, and other businesses.
A little less than one hundred countries in the world currently require a visa to enter the BVI.
These include Russia, Cuba, Columbia, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, North Korea, Nigeria, Philippines, Egypt, Dominican Republic, several counties in Africa and the Middle East, among others.
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Great. How many North Koreans do you expect?
Not a lot. But the spiteful quarantine rules for Brits continues even though we do get tourists and business folk from there.
And UK has more or less beaten the virus with vaccines…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9500469/Is-end-Covid-sight-Cases-fallen-age-group-just18-deaths-today.html
North Korea! People all over the world must find that funny.
How in the world does this help the economy and tourism? Someone wanting to come to the BVI for a month is not going to be put off by the small matter of a visa application.
Those island people are not tourists, they are people wanting to come here to look work
Do we get tourist from guyana, santo domingo, haiti, phillipines, columbia ??? h**l no !!!
You are a special kind of idiot
You too bad minded
How about tweaking the protocols in accordance with best practices? How about enter with negative test, test on arrival and upon receipt of negative result locally (within 24-36hrs), you are free to go? This may sound harsh but surely there’s a reason why VISA restrictions were imposed on these countries in the first place? Now we expect them to boost our tourism? How?
Andrew – friend, buddy, comrade. I understand there are maybe close to millions of North Koreans that desperately have been waiting to come to the BVI, they just couldn’t swing the at visa fee.
Me however, i’m standing here in ST John, looking at Sopers hole. Id love to come over but I only have 7 days and staying in quarantine for 6 of those days makes it a bit of a hassle. I’m fully vaccinated and would love to come over and have drink, maybe spend some money. Now please understand – I like quarantine a lot and think it should be marketed as a vacation on its own, its just not for me right now.
I am honestly worried though that once this goes live I wont be able to get a table in any restaurant, hotel room or available yacht due to the North Koreans flocking to the BVI to use your drag strip.
Andy…buddy..friend and comrade, You have great ideas, your just way ahead of your time.
I hear those North Koreans are BIG spenders…
No Plan!
Stop disriminantion againt residente….with the exemtion why a person have to live here for 20 Years befor they can get any kind off papper smh only people who can not do better will stay here
So if they will be good for tourism it means they have money right? So if they have money and wanted to come to BVI, they would just pay the visa fee and come, right? So this is just another set of hog wash from the Premier as he seems to think we are all stupid. People from the affected countries that want to be here, got their visa and came here.
What a joke. This is not going to do f*** all to help tourism. No tourists come from those countries. 99% of them come from the US and the reason we don’t have more of them is because of the dumb, unnecessary 4day quarantine. Get rid of it.
I’m scheduled to arrive for a charter on May 30. My party is fully vaccinated.
I’m going to cancel this week unless the government announces an overnight quarantine with 1 test or less.
If you want more tourists, Andrew, you know what to do to get us.
Its a shame they cant get to work permit process to work more efficiently first. First there is the trip to the NHI and SSB and Inland Revenue to pay the for certificates which takes half a day queuing. Then its taking longer 2 months to get the Certificate of Earnings from the Inland Revenue to renew work permits – which means delays in getting the fees in the Government coffers. Why cant the firm just get 1 certificate for each of NHI, SSB and Tax listing all of the employees who have paid? This is putting people off of working here which means they will leave and there is less money for the Government.