He said while it is understandable that the sector would be eager to make money, they should enforce the rules on their guests.

The Premier was at the time giving his contribution to the bill entitled, 'COVID-19 Control and Suppression (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 2020' at the Wednesday, November 25, 2020, Third Sitting of the Third Session of the Fourth House of Assembly (HoA) in Duff's Bottom, Tortola.

Premier and Minister of Finance Honourable Andrew A. Fahie has cautioned hoteliers and others in the tourism industry that tourists visiting the territory as of December 1, 2020, should not be allowed to do as they please with the government-imposed rules for keeping the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) at bay, while at their respective properties.

Don't let guests dictate protocols!

"We cannot have persons visiting and when they come to your hotels or your boats or whatever and come with the mindset that they are coming to a small island state and they could do what they want. It will not be accepted," he pointed out.

He added: "I am asking persons not to let your guests dictate what is going to be done with the health protocols. They are not COVID-19 specialists, they are not doctors, and it will be unfair for us to ask the people of the Virgin Islands to adhere and they adhere to all the measures and to have a few people come and break the rules and dictate the pace for us and create cases where we would have to be looking about whether to shut down or not."

VI could suffer from tourists actions

Premier Fahie said, if the protocols are flouted, the entire territory could suffer as a result.

He referred to other countries who, for the want of a dollar, allowed guests to do as they please and disregarded the protocols. This, he explained, placed the staff, their children and the rest of their families in danger.

"We would have made $15,000 for the day as an example, but when we shut down we lost a $150,000," he warned.

Previous lockdowns because of COVID-19 had resulted in significant loss of revenue for the government and the people of the territory.