"The light that comes from wisdom never goes out"
The Virgin Islands welcomed P&O cruise ship Iona last Thursday and Friday for the first time during her first Caribbean stop after crossing the Atlantic Ocean from the United Kingdom. …
Continue reading “After Atlantic crossing, Iona stops in VI”
Government is right to kick off 2025 by organising a comprehensive public conversation about the tourism sector. Now it’s the public’s turn. We urge all residents to participate in the …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Public input vital at tourism summit”
Signs abound that the coming tourism high season will be successful, building on travellers’ positive impressions of the Virgin Islands and showing that the demand to vacation here remains strong. …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Virgin Islands must not rest on tourism laurels”
A preliminary economic study examining the cruise industry’s impacts in the Caribbean will be presented this week at a conference in St. Maarten, according to Communications and Works Minister Kye …
The first six months of 2024 set a tourism record, bringing the most visitor arrivals of any first half in Virgin Islands history and causing Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley …
Continue reading “First-half tourism record driven by cruise ships”
Government has continued to embrace record-breaking cruise tourism numbers, giving cruise lines no “indication that they have reached their limit” in the territory, according to Communications and Works Minister Kye …
Cruise ship passenger arrivals are expected to hit a new record this year and then continue climbing, but no upper limit has been set, according to Communications and Works Minister …
Continue reading “No cap on cruise visitors despite rapid rise”
Boarding Richard Branson’s new cruise liner, Valiant Lady, leaders and other guests from around the territory mingled and laughed on Sunday, eager to sample the experience of an adults-only cruise. …
A Brazilian couple who missed their cruise ship’s departure on Jan. 6 stayed the night for health reasons and then flew to St. Maarten the following evening, they told the …
Continue reading “Brazilian couple safe and sound after missing cruise ship”
Preliminary data shows growth in visitor arrivals in the first quarter of this year, and the trend is expected to accelerate with the help of the daily direct flights between …
Continue reading “Government aims for pre-Irma tourism numbers”
Under a new agreement, the Virgin Islands government will receive guidance from the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association on “enhancing” the territory’s “product” and increasing cruise calls, the trade association announced last …
Continue reading “BVIPA keeps deal with cruise group secret”
Virgin Islands tourism is recovering quickly as the Covid-19 pandemic eases. This is great news. But it is also a reminder that the territory urgently needs the comprehensive tourism plan …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Tourism is recovering quickly. Now what’s the plan?”
As the Anne Bonny drifts past the cruise pier, an ethereal female voice pours out of the speakers: “Villainous, infamous, Anne Bonny…”. Next to the massive, gleaming cruise ships moored …
In recent weeks, the territory has seen the second-largest spike in Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, with 958 active cases as of the government’s most recent Covid-19 …
The Norwegian Gem is scheduled to call in Tortola on Oct. 7 carrying as many as 3,130 passengers, but the government still hasn’t unveiled the details of the protocols they …
As the territory continues to balance “lives and livelihoods,” health teams are managing 66 active Covid-19 cases and cruise ship passengers soon will be al- lowed to enter the territory …
As Covid-19 spread across the Western Hemisphere in the spring of 2020, cruise ships that had been traversing the world’s seas were forced to anchor, leaving the Virgin Islands and …
Continue reading “Cruise bubble plans unclear ahead of ships return”
Cruise ships are scheduled to start arriving in the territory next month, but a plan to put their cruise ship passengers in a “bubble” in the era of Covid19 was …
Cruise ships are now scheduled to return to the territory in June under strict new rules designed to keep the territory safe from Covid-19, according to a Friday statement from …
Continue reading “Cruise ships to return in June, with new rules”
It’s good news that Royal Caribbean is restarting Celebrity cruises based on St. Marten. But before we get too excited, please note it is for a limited season from June …
For the first time since last March, two cruise ships docked Monday at the Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park. But they are carrying only crewmembers, and no one will …
Continue reading “Cruise ships arrive for 30-day ‘warm layups’”
The Virgin Islands closed to cruise ships on March 14, three days after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic. Now, six months later, cruise ships might finally return …
Continue reading “Cruise ships with no passengers can now dock”
A Tortola resident tested negative for Covid-19 last month, but she strongly suspects she had the disease because of the symptoms she and two co-workers suffered after interacting with passengers …
Continue reading “‘I think I had it’: After cruise-ship calls, negative Covid test raises doubts”
The coronavirus epidemic appeared at a very volatile moment in world history. In a new post-2008-recession world ruled by authoritarian types in Russia, China, India, Brazil and even the supposedly …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Politics of coronavirus considered”