beach at buoy haus hotel in st thomas with green hills
The beach at the Buoy Haus hotel in St Thomas, USVI. CJ Photo.
Caribbean

Why the US Virgin Islands Is a “Leader” in Caribbean Tourism 

By: Caribbean Journal Staff - July 28, 2024 - 3:22 pm

It’s not just all the new flights, or the hotel occupancy growth, or the new-look waterfront in Charlotte Amalie. 

There’s a palpable dynamism in the US Virgin Islands right now. You know it when you board a completely-full flight from Miami to St Thomas in the middle of July. 

And you certainly saw it this past week at the inaugural US Virgin Islands Tourism Summit, a high-level conference on local and regional tourism that was the perfect example of why this destination is performing so strongly right now. 

“We continue to be a leader in regional tourism,” said US Virgin Islands Tourism Commissioner Joseph Boschulte, who organized the summit along with USVI Governor Albert Bryan, Jr at the Westin Beach Resort in St Thomas.

USVI Governor Albert Bryan Jr addresses the summit.

While Caribbean destinations frequently have local hotel association meetings, this was something different: an in-depth look at the state of tourism and the broader regional industry, with the public sector right alongside the private sector. The kind of conference you sometimes see at the regional level — but almost never in a single Caribbean destination. 

It was a model for the region, aimed at pushing the envelope further for an industry that by all objective measures is already performing right at the top of the regional standard. 

And the reality is that, particularly since the heart of the pandemic, US Virgin Islands tourism is doing well. Very well. 

Thanks to a tourism renaissance that began with an expertly-managed, health-sensitive reopening, the destination is seeing the best numbers it has ever seen. 

This year, the USVI is expected to see a 24 percent increase in airlift arrivals, compared to 2023. 

Joseph Boschulte, Commissioner of the USVI Department of Tourism, briefs on the state of USVI tourism.

The first quarter of 2024 saw a 26.5 percent jump over Q1 in 2023, Boschulte said. 

That number was a 63 percent increase over the first quarter of 2019. 

As was noted during the summit, for years the USVI’s wheelhouse was not stayover tourism. It was cruise. But when the pandemic shut down cruise traffic, the destination quickly shifted its focus to stayover growth, and that’s helped lead to the territory’s new tourism boom. 

yacht haven
Yacht Haven Grande in St Thomas.

Of course, cruise tourism has come back in earnest, particularly in St Croix, which is a relatively new cruise destination — with a 77 percent increase in arrivals projected this year. 

“We continue to see rise ship arrivals go up,” Boschulte said. 

The summit covered everything from a look at the broader Caribbean market to a dialogue on improving the tourism product to more dialed-in sessions on everything from local business SEO to visitor booking patterns. 

“We are doing really well, but there is still a lot of work to be done to maximize tourism,” Bryan, Jr. said. “But how do we maximize tourism? How do we make sure that we are getting the best of every tourist that comes here, and that they’re seeing the best of us?”

Popular Posts antigua long bay

25 Perfect Caribbean Beaches to Add to Your Summer Bucket List

There’s nothing like a Caribbean beach in summer. The crowds thin out, the winds relax, and the islands start breathing in a different way. The beaches you thought you knew feel new again— stretches of sand once packed with winter […]


The 15 Best Hotels in Trinidad and Tobago, From Hidden Eco-Retreats to Luxury Towers

trinidad and tobago hotels where to stay

From Port of Spain to Tobago’s quiet coasts, these are the places to check in now No two Caribbean islands are quite like Trinidad and Tobago—and no two hotels here feel the same. This is a destination of contrast: Carnival […]


This Marriott All-Inclusive Resort Is Coming to Barbados —  And You Can Book It With Points

new brand for the caribbean

Barbados has long been a haven for adults in search of refinement — the kind of place where luxury and culture blend in quiet, confident harmony. Now, that ethos is becoming the foundation of a new resort concept that aims […]


Related Posts bokit sandwich

The Caribbean’s Best Sandwich Is Made on This Island — Here’s Where to Find It 

I remember the first time I visited Sainte Anne. The little beach town on the southern coast of Guadeloupe’s island of Grande Terre has some beautiful sand, but it’s really most famous for one thing: it’s food trucks. Head to […]


The Aruba Travel Guide: Where to Stay, Where to Eat and What to Do

aruba travel

The adventure, the beach, the food, the happy. Aruba is always one of our favorite destinations, and that extends to travel agents, who are also loving the Dutch Caribbean island right now. Here’s our Aruba travel guide, with everything you […]


Aeroméxico Just Launched a New Daily Flight Between Mexico City and Panama City

new flights between mexico and panama

From the emerald hills of El Valle to the gleaming towers of Punta Paitilla, Panama is a country that defies simple definition — a crossroads of continents, a global hub with a tropical soul. And now it’s more accessible than […]