The Premier gave that indication as he spoke to the House of Assembly (HOA) about some of the improvements being seen by the BVI Tourist Board (BVITB) recently.

“The romance market is also on the rise again as couples are now getting back to in-person ceremonies instead of the Zoom weddings,” the Premier said.

In addition to this, he said the honeymoon and renewal markets are also on the rise as the pandemic has slowed down and couples look forward to their destination honeymoons.

According to Dr Wheatley, the incentive market is also doing extremely well, with many groups on the books for the upcoming summer and through to 2024.

“These niche markets are fruitful ones for the BVI and the BVI Tourist Board will continue their marketing efforts to the incentive and romance niche markets to increase returns,” the Premier said.

According to Dr Wheatley, the BVI has already seen a full buyout for the year with multi-million dollar weddings planned at major resorts in the territory.

In the meantime, Premier Wheatley said the Tourist Board is planning for a major brand engagement for 2023 that will see brand BVI paired with internationally-recognised luxury brands and showcased across international feeder markets.

Dr Wheatley said the BVITB has officially launched its North American ‘Sail and Stay’ summer campaign and has partnered with Travel Desk, a data-driven media solutions company specialising in multi-channel targeting strategies, for this year’s campaign.

The campaign will deliver precision data targeting US leisure travellers using beautiful and inspiring advertising campaigns, Dr Wheatley said.

“These ads will encourage bookings of package deals available to purchase directly from our participating partners’ websites,” he noted.