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Tourism
In 2006, tourism stood as the biggest contributor to the BVI’s GDP, averaging 30 percent of the GDP in 2006
(BVI Beacon Newspaper, 2008). To be more specific, the contribution of hotel and restaurant services to GDP grew
by 68 percent between 2003 and 2007. In the years of 2006 and 2007, the contribution of hotel and restaurant to
GDP was 16 percent annually.
In terms of tourism arrivals, there were increases of over 130 percent between 1996 and 2007. The majority of
arrivals originated from the US, accounting for 64 percent of arrivals annually for the same period. To accommodate
these increases in arrivals, hotel room capacity increased by two percent, guest house villa capacity increased by 127
percent and campgrounds capacity decreased by 31 percent.
In other statistics provided by DPU, for the month of February, 2008, a slight slowdown in overnight visitors of
less than one percent (being 0.29 percent) was recorded whilst January and March grew by approximately ten
percent and two percent respectively. This first quarter performance came after a positive year of total performance
for 2007 when the sector’s arrivals grew by 15.4 percent in 2006 and contributed some US$39 million or
approximately seven percent more estimated visitor expenditure than in 2006” (BVI Tourist Board, 2008). Hence,
there was a drop in the growth rate for overnight visitors, but the Territory still observed increases in overnight
visitors for this period. Mainly, the BVI welcomed 415,004 visitors in the first quarter of 2008, which represented a
total growth of 14.6 percent compared to the same period in 2007 (BVI News Online, 2008).
Although the islands are served well by the US market, there should be a bit of caution on this dependency
because: (1) the US Dollar is declining; (2) less than half of the American population possesses passports; and (3)
there are economies emerging from developing countries for example Dubai, Brazil, India and China. To ensure that
tourism remains the number one contributor to the GDP, the Territory needs to adopt more aggressive marketing
strategies that would target South American and European regions (Duncan, 2008). In April 2013, a delegation from
the BVI led by Premier Smith, visited Brazil and promoted the Territory as a viable financial services and tourism
partner (BVI News Online, 2008).
Moreover, Duncan (2008) advocated for an International Airport and a Five Star Hotel in the BVI. Both of these
suggestions would require improved infrastructural facilities and could in turn significantly increase tourism arrivals
for overnight visitors and provide greater contributions to GDP.
Duncan’s advice has been taken up by the 2011-elected government20 and the former is expected to be
completed by the end of 2015. This was confirmed by Minister of Natural Resources and Labor21 on February 12,
2013 during his Address to the House of Assembly (BVI News Online, 2013).
The proposed Airport expansion project will be the second major project undertaken on this facility within a ten
year period. The Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport underwent the extension and overlay of its runway, and
the same was officially opened on May 20, 2004 (see Figure 1-2). Still, the new proposed project will be of a much
grander scale, as it will include runway extensions and infrastructural developments.
Following the signing of the Effective Financial Management Protocol, major projects of this magnitude must be
approved by the UK Government before any work commences. For that reason, Premier Smith traveled to the UK at
the end of May 2013 to sell the importance of this project to UK officials (BVI Platinum News, 2013).
Figure 1-2: Aerial View of the Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport in 2004 after the Runway Extension and Overlay
Project
Source: Adapted from the Memorabilia Photograph distributed at the Official Opening Ceremony of the Extended Runway on
May 20, 2004.
Duncan’s suggestions should be approached with some degree of caution because such plans would have
implications for the Territory’s sustainable development path. In consequence, the BVI should only implement plans
that will not have severe negative impacts on its two most valuable resources; to be precise: its environment and its
people.
Other interesting statistics relate to boat arrivals that outnumbered air travel visitors by almost 200 percent in the
year 2006 alone. In addition, cruise ship passengers arrivals increased by over 266 percent for the periods 1996 to
2007. In detail, cruise ship and day-trip passengers accounted for less than nine percent of the tourist expenditure or
just over $47 million in 2006 (see Figure 1-2). In contrast, overnight visitors (including those staying in chartered
boats, hotels, owned or rented accommodations) spent about 1375 dollars per person during the same year, which is
approximately $490 million (BVI Beacon Newspaper, 2008). Furthermore, the number of charter boats in the
Territory increased by 78 percent between 1996 and 2006.
Figure 1-3: 2006 Estimated Tourist Expenditures
Source: Adapted from BVI Beacon Newspaper in February 2008 at http://www.bvibeacon.com
Source: Extract from the book Moving From Infancy to Young Adulthood written by Dana Lewis-Ambrose and
published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, July 2013.