Should cruise passengers pay BVI’s environmental levy?
Former Junior Minister of Trade and Economic Development, Shereen Flax-Charles, has once again raised the question of imposing the $10 environmental levy on cruise ship passengers.
She made the suggestion during the recently concluded Tourism Summit, which was hosted for the first time by the Virgin Islands Government.
“Why are we not charging the cruise passengers the environmental levy?” Flax-Charles questioned.
She noted that the cruise industry has the highest negative environmental impact and estimated that the territory could have collected approximately $7.6 million based on last year’s visitor numbers.
In response, Premier and Minister of Tourism Dr. Natalio Wheatley acknowledged the importance of the cruise sector, stating that many residents depend on it for their livelihood.
“I’m pretty sure that the Minister of Communication and Works Kye Rymer would know about that, and that certainly would have to do with a conversation with the cruise passengers because, as we know, those types of costs may discourage them from the destination,” Wheatley stated.
This is not the first time Flax-Charles has raised the issue. She previously made a similar statement in 2022, arguing that the additional revenue could support the BVI’s environmental initiatives.
She acknowledged that cruise passengers are currently exempt from the levy due to berthing agreements between the territory and cruise lines but insisted that these arrangements should be reevaluated.
The environmental and tourism levy was introduced at the territory’s ports of entry on September 1, 2017, under the Environmental Protection and Tourism Improvement Fund Act. The funds collected are used for environmental protection, climate change initiatives, and the maintenance and development of tourist sites.
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1. Find out what other Cruise destinations are doing. Don’t be an outlier or we might get dropped from some itineraries.
2. Consider a reduced fee due to short length of stay and to lessen the blow to the Cruise Lines.
3. Install a secure box for voluntary donations towards the preservation of the Beautiful Virgin Islands right on the pier. Make the box look like a giant Sea Turtle.You might be surprised by how much you collect.
4. Tell us what you are actually going to do with the money – then actually do it.
Make it $ 100 since they probably won’t ever return after they see what’s on offer here.
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/oct/19/europe-ports-bear-brunt-of-cruise-ship-pollution
Flax like she trying to kill the cruise tourism everything out her mouth is something negative towards cruise ships ,if she does want any coming to VG fine just make sure you have something to replace them with.
No one should be scammed until it’s verified that the monies are used for the reasons stipulated.
charge them you know the cruise lines want to cut out public destinations to their own private islands
where they can get all the profits.