Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Sep 21, 2025

Delay to seaports reopening another ‘blow to already fragile situation’- BVICCHA

Calling itself the “proactive voice of business”, the BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association (BVICCHA) has lamented that there has been another delay to the reopening of the seaports in the Virgin Islands to international operations.
Tourism sector on ‘life support’


Noting that the tourism sector is on life support, the BVICCHA in a statement on Thursday, March 3, 2021, said it is disappointed at the news that the reopening of seaports has been delayed for a second time since the initial announcement to open the seaports in December 2020.

“The seaports are the main point of destination access into the Virgin Islands and a further delay to April 2021 at the end of the regular tourism season is another blow to an already fragile situation.”

It further said that the delay means that for the second year in a row, the accommodations and food services sector, which “accounted for over $80 million in economic activity in 2016”, has suffered another major disruption that could result in permanent business closures.

Reasons for delay


The further delay to the reopening of the seaports was announced by the BVI Ports Authority (BVIPA) on February 24, 2021.

According to the BVIPA, the reopening of the Road Town Jetty to incoming visitors has been deferred to April 15, 2021, for several reasons including “that islands within the region have reported increased numbers of COVID-19 cases” and the “increased possibility of the introduction of variant strains from international travellers.”

It also said due to the demands of the roll-out of the vaccines and the need to ensure a large percent of the local population is vaccinated, the health personnel normally needed to assist in monitoring procedures at the entry portal is significantly stretched and as such the efficiency to monitor the opening is challenged.

Noting that the tourism sector is on life support, the BVICCHA in a statement on Thursday, March 3, 2021, said it is disappointed at the news that the reopening of seaports has been delayed for a second time since the initial announcement to open the seaports in December 2020.


Balance needed


BVICCHA said while the business community appreciates the priority of public health and safety, a balance is needed to protect livelihoods that, if not preserved, will have a long-lasting impact and result in socioeconomic fallout such as poverty due to chronic under-employment or unemployment.

It continued that the tourism sector businesses, which have earned little to no revenue over the past twelve (12) months, are in a dire position and unable to return persons to work or pay severance without going bankrupt.

“It is important to remember that the local economy is integrated and if one sector(s) is in distress, there is a significant impact across all. For example, the professional services sector, including the transportation, wholesale and retail sectors, will also be negatively impacted.

“As reported in October 2020, many businesses that rely on tourism dollars, directly or indirectly, have exhausted savings trying to survive thus far, and some are going into debt trying to sustain operations.”

No ‘relief assistance’ for some businesses- BVICCHA


The BVICCHA also claimed that some businesses are still reporting that they have not received business relief assistance promised from six months ago.

“This situation further highlights the need for immediate strategic actions to diversify the economy in the next 3-5 years to limit the economic shockwave of this magnitude. We again make the call for a Comprehensive Economic Recovery and Development Plan to be developed with stakeholder consultations that include unemployment benefit scheme, economic relief/paycheck protection program, bank deposit insurance, moratoriums, and bankruptcy regulations.

BVICCHA said longer-term goals such as diversification, workforce development plan, and regulations that make a more business-friendly environment also needs to be included in its proposed plan.

“A key element to start this planning process is quarterly economic reporting to provide information for planning and decision-making.

Meanwhile, the BVICCHA said it will be hosting a virtual Business Stakeholders Meeting on Thursday, March 11, 2021, at 5:30 pm.

It said all business owners are invited to attend to share their concerns and ideas.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
EU Set to Bar Big Tech from New Financial Data Access Scheme
China Bans Livestreaming and AI in Religion Amid Crackdown on Shaolin Temple Scandal
Documents Reveal Mandelson Failed to Declare Epstein-Funded Flights as MP in 2003
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Harris Memoir Sparks Backlash from Democrats for Blunt Critiques in ‘107 Days’
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Japan’s ‘Death-Tainted’ Homes Gain Appeal as Prices Soar in Tokyo
Massive Attack Withdraws from Spotify Over Daniel Ek’s €600M Defence-AI Investment
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders Third Lethal Strike on Drug-Trafficking Vessel as U.S. Expands Maritime Counter-Narcotics Operations
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
Why Google Search Is Fading and AI Is Taking Its Place
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Federal Judge Dismisses Trump’s Fifteen-Billion-Dollar Suit Against New York Times, Orders Refile
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
DeepSeek Claims R1 Model Trained for only $294,000, Sparking Global Debate Over China’s AI Capabilities
SoftBank Vision Fund to Cut Nearly Twenty Percent of Staff in Bold AI Strategy Shift
Intel’s Next-Gen Manufacturing Gets a Lifeline from Nvidia’s Strategic $5B Deal
Erika Kirk Elected CEO of Turning Point USA After Husband Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
×