When I conducted the economic analysis for the UberSoca Cruise’s coming visit to the Virgin Islands, I realised something quietly profound: You can’t truly measure “impact” if nobody’s keeping count. That might sound obvious, but here in the VI, we often measure success by how things feel and what we can see.
We feel like the event was good. We saw taxis lined up, bars full and tourists smiling. Surely that must mean the economy did well — right?
Maybe. But the truth is, we don’t actually know. And that’s the problem.
A visitor dollar is like a tourist — it needs a reason to stay.
When UberSoca comes to the VI on Tuesday, thousands of people will disembark for just a few hours. In that short window, money will flood into the territory: food, drinks, taxi rides, souvenirs, beach access fees, rum tastings, tips.
But unless that new money mixes with the money already here and circulates through our local economy, it doesn’t do much for us. A dollar that enters and exits immediately is like a tourist who never left the pier — nice to see, but gone too soon to make a difference.
The real economic story isn’t just how much money comes in: It’s how much moves around the islands. That’s what makes an event like UberSoca valuable — not the crowd size or the social media buzz, but how much activity it generates across our local systems.
‘Silent killer of small economies’
Stagnation is the silent killer of small economies. Every economy has resources: people, skills, equipment, buildings, ideas — and here in the VI, the sea, the beaches and the marine life.
But if those resources sit idle — if they’re not being used to generate value — that’s stagnation. It’s like having a fleet of fishing boats sitting onshore during lobster season.
That’s why economists talk about employment — not just of people, but of everything that can contribute to growth. A sailmaker who isn’t selling sails? Stagnation.
A musician or a personal chef who isn’t getting booked? Stagnation.
A business that could buy from local farmers or bakers but orders everything from overseas instead? That’s money leaking out of the territory.
The ultimate goal isn’t just to attract spending — it’s to keep money moving inside our borders. Every time it moves, it does a little work for the VI: paying wages, funding schools, fixing roads, fueling other businesses.
UberSoca Cruise analysis
When I conducted the UberSoca analysis, I followed the money to see how far it really travels.
Early on, I realised that reliable local data was hard to find. The most recent cruise-spending figures for the VI came from a regional study that was, frankly, outdated, so I rebuilt the model from the ground up.
I adjusted the numbers for inflation, updated them to reflect how people spend money differently after Covid-19, and recalculated using real-world costs for food, transport and entertainment in the VI. Then I traced where that money goes — from what visitors spend directly to how it flows through suppliers, workers and households. Again, it’s not what comes in that matters: It’s what stays and multiplies.
Figures clarified
I was glad to see the government sharing the figures from the analysis. That’s exactly the kind of data conversation we need to have across the VI. But just to be clear, the study didn’t say the UberSoca Cruise would “generate” or “inject” $750,000 into the economy.
The words “inject” and “generate” tend to suggest that the government could make up to $750,000 in revenue or profit — which isn’t what the study says. What it says is that we could see between $600,000 and $750,000 in economic activity — meaning not government revenue or profit but money moving through local businesses, workers and suppliers.
To say that the cruise would “generate more than invested” implies profit, when what should be communicated is that the cruise would “generate up to $750,000 in total economic activity.”
Not profit, but stimulus
When governments “invest” public funds in events, it’s actually a form of stimulus — designed to generate economic activity. It’s not the same as when a private individual invests $400,000 in an event and expects a profit or return on investment (ROI). Economic activity and ROI aren’t the same thing. A $400,000 public investment could potentially stimulate up to $750,000 in total spending across the economy — but the benefit is distributed, not directly recouped.
In other words, government doesn’t get a cheque back — the return shows up in the form of wages earned, goods sold, hotel rooms booked, taxis hired and money circulating through local hands. That’s what a stimulus does: It moves money so that more people benefit, even if government itself doesn’t “make” money from it.
When it comes to UberSoca, the real story isn’t about how much comes in or how much revenue we make: It’s about how much stays, circulates and multiplies here at home. That’s how an event becomes more than a party. That’s how it becomes economic progress.
‘I’m an analyst’
On the topic of economics, I understand that I was described as an economist during the press conference. I appreciate the reference, but I’m not an economist by profession — I’m an analyst. My background is in computer science, software engineering, digital product management, systems analysis and business consulting. I apply economic principles as part of my work, but I stand on the shoulders of real economists — including my father, the late Theodore Skeete — who taught me much of what I know about understanding economies in motion.
In regard to my analysis, what emerged wasn’t guesswork: It was an estimate of how a single day of activity could move hundreds of thousands of dollars through the VI.
But that experience left me thinking: Why do we keep doing this the hard way?
If we truly want to manage the VI economy with confidence — not assumptions — we need businesses to participate in real-time data gathering. Because while I can estimate, I’d rather know.
The territory’s data problem, however, isn’t technical: It’s cultural.
‘Wary’ businesses
Let’s be honest: Businesses in the VI are wary of sharing numbers. They imagine government officials poring over their sales reports. They worry about exposure, competition and sometimes trust.
But this isn’t about surveillance. It’s about collaboration.
When a restaurant, taxi operator or vendor reports their event-day performance, they’re helping to shape a territory-wide picture of what works and where opportunities lie.
Imagine if we knew a few basics after every major event:
- How many local businesses benefitted.
- Which sectors earned the most.
- What visitors wanted but couldn’t find.
- How much of that visitor dollar stayed onshore.
That’s not bureaucracy: That’s business intelligence. And in this regard, a small country or territory has an advantage: agility. In large economies, tracking spending across millions of people is a logistical nightmare. In the VI, we could literally do it with an Excel sheet and some willing participants. That’s our advantage. If 200 businesses report, we can paint a national picture.
When government builds a simple reporting tool — even something mobile-friendly — we can gather digital information and generate insights. And when we make those insights public, they don’t just build trust: They confirm that we’re growing together, with evidence to show it.
That’s how data-driven economies work. They don’t “guess,” per se, unless it’s to set a baseline for an experiment. They estimate, test, learn, adjust and keep improving.
Keeping the money here
We talk a lot about “economic diversification,” but that starts with a simpler question: How do we stop money from leaving so quickly?
That’s not just about tourism. It’s about supply chains.
When a bar restocks inventory and buys from Miami instead of a VI-based wholesaler, or when a souvenir shop buys from New York instead of a VI artisan, or when a service contract goes to a foreign provider instead of a local one — that’s value leaving the territory.
So while we celebrate events that bring money in, we also have to strengthen the industries that help it stay. That’s the part often missing from the conversation.
So here’s my ask to the business community. Government can design policies, host events and create opportunities for the economy to grow — but it can’t measure or maximise those opportunities alone. It needs your participation.
Just as we rely on residents to participate in national censuses so we can plan public services and allocate resources wisely, we also rely on businesses to participate in post-event data calls.
So please report your results. Even rough estimates help. When the government requests your input after major events, share what you can. It’s not an audit: It’s a snapshot of how the economy performs in real life. Your numbers, even broad ones, help paint the bigger picture of what worked, what didn’t, and where the next opportunity might be.
UNDP consultant explains soca cruise study
Please also tell us what visitors asked for that you didn’t have. That’s market intelligence. It’s not about pointing fingers or exposing shortcomings. It’s about spotting unmet demand.
When businesses share what visitors wanted but couldn’t find, they’re not admitting failure — they’re helping everyone, including themselves, prepare better next time.
At the same time, please support transparency. If businesses are reporting data, government will share the results. It’s not about revealing anyone’s private numbers. When results are shared collectively, we can all see how the economy is moving and where new opportunities lie.
Sound strategy
It may help to think of participation as strategy instead of compliance. When you share information, you’re not just helping government: You’re helping your own business plan smarter. The more we know collectively, the better everyone can prepare for pricing, staffing, logistics and investment. Good data isn’t just bureaucracy. It’s just how we make smarter decisions.
Put another way, data is not paperwork: It’s power. When we measure impact properly, we don’t just prove the value of one event: We strengthen our case for future ones. We also learn where the leaks are and where the bottlenecks form. That’s how a small island economy evolves from “hoping” to “understanding.”
A ‘spectacle’
UberSoca 2025 will be a spectacle — a day of energy, sound and culture.
But beyond the music, it’s also a national experiment to see whether we remain a destination that simply hosts events — or we have become an economy that multiplies them.
Can we finally measure what truly happens when the ships depart, the music fades, and the visitor dollar joins the local one in circulation?
Because like the visitors, the money is coming.
The real question: Will it stay long enough to make a difference, and will we make it move?
Mr. Skeete is the Virgin Islands national consultant for the United Nations Development Programme.
