This estimated earning shows how much the industry suffered, especially when compared to the estimated $389,912, 630.06 earned from tourism in 2019 and the estimated $232,510,640.10 earned in 2018.

The aforementioned earnings generated last year is only 29 percent of the overall tourism revenue for 2019.

Speaking in the House of Assembly on Tuesday, April 20, Premier Andrew Fahie said the estimated yearly revenues show what was earned from all areas of the tourism industry including hotels, charter boats, rented accommodations, owned accommodations, overnight visitors, cruise visitors, excursionists, day-trippers, etcetera.

The Premier also detailed statistics on the number of visitors who stopped in the BVI over the last three years.

The figures provide further insight into the impact COVID-19 had on the local tourism industry. Last year only saw the BVI receiving 34 percent of the visitors it had the year before.
Below are the figures generated by the BVI’s Central Statistics Office:

2018 – 757,015 visitors
2019 – 894,991 visitors
2020 – 305,371 visitors

When COVID-19 hit the territory in March 2020, the BVI closed its borders to international traffic for almost the entire year and reopened its main airport on December 8.

Since then, visitors have been trickling into the territory but tourism could not fully rebound as the seaports — which account for most of the BVI’s yearly visitors — remained closed for another three months.

Elected leaders and industry players have estimated that it will take the BVI’s tourism industry an entire year to start showing signs of full recovery.