National Tourism Policy to be finalised by June 2025
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has indicated that his government is expected to finalise its long-awaited National Tourism Policy by June 2025.
Speaking at a recent press conference, Dr Wheatley confirmed that consultations will be conducted on each of the major islands to ensure stakeholders contribute to the policy’s development. The initiative follows on the heels of the National Tourism Summit, which gathered over 200 industry partners to discuss the sector’s future.
“The summit served as a launch pad for the formulation of the National Tourism Policy and also the National Tourism Plan,” Dr Wheatley stated.
Record-breaking tourism figures
The announcement comes as the BVI recorded a surge in visitor arrivals in 2024, surpassing the one million mark for the first time since 2016.
The increase included a record-breaking 768,293 cruise ship passengers, up 6.8% from 2023. Overnight visitor numbers rose 16.7% to 305,876, while day-trippers reached a historic high of 17,970, a 35.1% increase from the previous year.
Key focus areas for 2025
The Premier outlined several priority areas for the tourism sector this year, including managing overcrowding, enhancing cultural tourism, improving transportation infrastructure, and advancing beautification efforts.
“We have to ensure that one sector does not negatively impact another. Overcrowding is a challenge, and we will bring stakeholders together to find solutions,” Dr Wheatley explained.
Infrastructure improvements remain a priority, with plans to advance the West End Ferry Terminal project and finalise decisions on financing the airport expansion. Additionally, the Junior Minister for Culture and Tourism will lead efforts to maintain the islands’ natural beauty.
Government commitment to policy development
Premier Wheatley acknowledged that the policy has been long delayed but attributed this to competing priorities such as governance reforms stemming from the Commission of Inquiry.
“The creation of the Ministry of Tourism was a key step. The ministry has a small but capable team that will lead the effort, ensuring this policy is developed,” he said.
Stakeholder engagement is expected to play a significant role in shaping the final policy, with the government planning extensive consultations across the territory.
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There is no way they could develop a serious and effective policy from that summit on Peter Island. No real consultations with all of the industry partners in all of the sectors. No way they did research in ask of the places where we get our tourists from to see what those tourists want to see in the BVI. No way did they research technology advancements in tourism. No way did they engage with Customs and immigration and police in such a very short space of time. Not in any deep meaningful way. Tis will just be another made up document created in somebody’s office that will become another unused file down in the government archives. These people are not serious.