US Virgin Islands 2023 Tourism Growth Leads Caribbean Destinations

In another indicator of the Caribbean destinations’ strong post-pandemic travel rebound, the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI)’s 2023 visitor arrivals generated “astonishing” hotel room occupancy tax collections, a top tourism official said in legislative testimony this week.

The USVI’s hotel room occupancy tax collections have totaled $45.6 million to date in fiscal year 2023, driven by a 15 percent visitor arrivals increase, said Joseph Boschulte, the USVI’s tourism commissioner.

The territory has hosted nearly 295,000 airline passengers during the period, Boschulte said during government budget hearings on July 13, with a hotel occupancy rate of 75.2 percent.

In a St. Thomas Source article, Boschulte said the USVI’s occupancy rate “exceeds the regional average by two percent,” adding the hotel occupancy tax revenue during the period was the “highest ever collected.” Boschulte called the total “astonishing.”

Bosculte said the USVI became the “fastest-growing destination in the Americas” in the years between 2019 and 2021 with a 35.2 percent increase in airline departures.

The territory’s strong first half is supported by data from travel research firm ForwardKeys. The U.S.V.I.’s first quarter 2023 visitor arrivals increased 17 percent compared with the same period in 2019 based on ticket booking data, the group said.

The USVI’s 2023 arrivals increase leads the Caribbean region, the report adds. The territory was among several Caribbean destinations that “increased their international arrivals by savvy use of travel data to decipher topflight routes, airline carriers and origin markets.”

The same countries also notably “widened their flight networks and connections,” the ForwardKeys report adds. The USVI’s positive 2023 tourism results follow a similarly upbeat 2022, during which the destination reported “encouraging” visitor arrivals growth, said Boschulte.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.