Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Tourism boost! Premier says bookings on the rise

Tourism boost! Premier says bookings on the rise

Premier and Minister of Tourism, Andrew Fahie has said the BVI is experiencing a considerable boost in tourism.

He gave this indication in a public address titled ‘BVI Gets A Further Boost’, on Tuesday, June 15.

“From as early as last month, May 2021, charter boat companies and other stakeholders were reporting that bookings are on the rise and that some operators are already booked solid for several months ahead,” Premier Fahie stated.

He continued: “Companies in the charter boat industry have reported that this month, which traditionally is not a busy month, is the busiest they have had since the reopening. Some properties and charter companies are contemplating remaining open when they would normally close due to slow business because of the increased demand.”

The Premier said one local hotel has already reported 60 percent occupancy in April, adding that the government anticipates “more such positive news”.

Call for further increase of ferry passenger limit


He said ferry companies are appealing for the government to increase the maximum number of passengers that could sail into the BVI through the neighbouring US Virgin Islands (USVI).

Fahie told residents this is something with which the BVI continues to work with USVI officials since such a decision has to work for both territories.

Be that as it may, the Premier said, “pushing the boundaries” always means creating a greater risk of spreading the virus locally.

Over 20,000 arrivals


In the meantime, Premier Fahie said the territory has received more than 20,500 people since the BVI reopened in December 2020. He added that these numbers continue to grow daily.

Giving a breakdown of the arrivals to date, Fahie said 5,000 travellers have entered through the Road Town seaport.

“For the first eight days of June alone more than 1,600 arriving passengers were received in total. The vast majority of these persons were tourists, and their arrival would have translated into economic opportunities for our taxi drivers, tour operators, charter companies, hotels and accommodations, restaurants, and our economy as a whole,” Fahie stated.

As for the Terrance B Lettsome International Airport on Beef Island, Fahie said an average of 2,400 arrivals were recorded monthly between December 2020 to May 2021. Total arrivals in May 2021 was 3,012 persons.

And for the first eight days of June, 1,225 arriving passengers have been received already at the airport, the Premier reported.

“The trend over the past six months has been that upwards of 70 percent of arrivals have been tourists. In the last three months, the trend has been where tourists made up over 80 percent of all arriving passengers at the airport,” Fahie stated.

“This means that of the 15,460-plus persons who entered the BVI via the airport since December 2020, more than 11,500 of them were tourists – and for the first eight days of June alone, about 1,000 tourists would have come into the BVI,” he added.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×