Jan 28, 2025 | Island News
Fantastic tourism news! The VI Consortium shared the USVI had a record-breaking 2024, including over 932,000 air arrivals, a 9.8% rise in cruise passengers, and accolades like the world’s best beach. The V.I. Department of Tourism announced that the U.S. Virgin Islands has reached new milestones in tourism, with record-breaking passenger arrivals reflecting the growing popularity of St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John as premier Caribbean destinations. D.O.T. revealed that 2024 was a year of exponential growth for the territory, driven by innovative strategies, new airline routes, and strengthened cruise partnerships.
The territory also received multiple prestigious accolades in 2024, further solidifying its status as a top destination. These include:
- Best Caribbean Cruise Destination 2024 by Porthole Cruise and Travel Magazine
- Caribbean Culinary Destination (St. Croix) and Caribbean Yachting Destination of the Year by Caribbean Journal
- Top 10 Best Beach for Honeymoon Beach, St. John, by USA TODAY 10 Best Readers’ Choice Travel Awards
- Number 1 Best Beach in the World 2024 for Trunk Bay, St. John, by The World’s 50 Best Beaches
- Number 1 Domestic Trending Summer Destination for St. Thomas by Expedia 2024 Summer Outlook
- Experiential Marketing Bronze Award for the Caribbean Way of Sports & Lifestyle Tourism Integrated Campaign by HSMAI Adrian Awards
Read the complete article here.
Aug 7, 2024 | Island News
In this recent op-ed article in the VI Consortium, the USVI Hotel & Tourism Association (USVIHTA) expresses its full support of the plans for essential and long-needed improvements to the airport experience on St. Thomas and St. Croix and provided information on the private/public partnership plans. We find the statistics provided by this op-ed piece to be very interesting. It indicates that the Cyril E. King Airport (CEKA) in St Thomas was built to process 600,000 arriving and departing passengers a year. In 2022, more than 1.65 million passengers used the terminal. Although the numbers were down in 2023, arrivals of 285,150 passengers through April 2024 are 26.2% higher year over year. The CEKA terminal was last updated in 1989. We are glad to see the HERA domestic lounge enhancements in 2021, but the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (STX) terminal has not been updated since 2000 according to the article.
Living on St. Croix, we have noticed an increased number of visitors. Tourism is an important part of the local economy and the redevelopment and modernization of the USVI’s airports are good news for the territory. The airports are a gateway for travelers, both tourists and residents alike. We are excited at the prospect of enhancements that will better the travel experience for everyone. We recommend you to read the full article here.
Jul 23, 2024 | Island News
We were delighted to come across a blog article from award-winning travel writer Candyce Stapen describing her recent vacation to St. Croix with her family that included grandparents, parents, and young children. She called the trip ‘magical’ and we can understand why. We’ve lived in St. Croix for over 20 years and we have seen multigenerational families vacationing on our beautiful island. Some friends of ours recently bought their children to visit St. Croix and told us how much fun everyone enjoyed sunny weather, water activities, and “less touristy” atmosphere. Another family we know on St. Croix often see their children and grandchildren visiting the island during school vacation weeks. We met their grandson last year and he told about the magnificent mangroves he saw and the bioluminescence tour (read here).
We recommend reading Candyce Stapen’s article here. She highlights her trip that included visits to these wonderful attractions:
Buck Island Reef National Monument: nps.gov/buis/index.htm
Caribbean Sea Adventures: www.caribbeanseaadventures.com
Buccaneer Beach and Golf Resort: www.thebuccaneer.com
Savant: www.savantstx.com
Duggan’s Reef: www.duggansreefstx.com
Apr 17, 2024 | Island News
According to a recent VI Consortium article, Governor Bryan attended this year’s Seatrade Global conference in April where he showcased the Virgin Islands’ pivotal role in global cruise tourism, emphasizing the territory’s impressive 5 percent share of the market. The governor also met with executives, stakeholders, and government officials from across the world discussing trends and partnerships in the cruise industry. Given that tourism generates 70% of the Virgin Islands’ economy, the governor stated that “these initiatives and investments are really proving to be worthwhile.” The conference may even be responsible for some legislative changes the governor says are in the pipeline. These aim to further enhance the cruise and tourism offerings, especially potential growth on St. Croix. Governor Bryan also expressed optimism that the exchanges of ideas during the event will lead to “exciting prospects” for the territory through new public-private partnerships.
Apr 12, 2024 | Island News
One of St. Croix’s most celebrated events is making a triumphant return for its 24th year! Taste of St. Croix returns on Thursday, April 18th to showcase St. Croix’s culinary scene from a host of restaurants, caterers, private chefs, and other culinary-based businesses throughout the territory. For the past two decades, Taste of St. Croix has uniquely captured the spirit and flavor of St. Croix’s hospitality industry by way of a celebration that is now recognized as one of the U.S. Virgin Islands’ premier food and wine events. Over the course of three hours, guests are welcome to sample a variety of local and international tastings and savor a selection of elegant wines from around the world.
Event Director Collin Hodge has been involved with Taste of St. Croix since its inception in 2001. “I was initially brought on as a consultant for the event and soon after came on board as event coordinator,” said Hodge. In 2022, the event returned to its original location, Divi Carina Bay Resort, after the property reopened following extensive renovations due to devastating damage from 2017 hurricanes Irma and Maria. Hodge shared that it feels good to be back home at Divi with Taste, and he looks forward to another successful installment of the event. This year, the event has added a five-course wine dinner as a prelude to the main event. On Wednesday, April 17th, guests can look forward to unique wines from Segura Viudas, Robert Mondavi, Elouan, and Quest, each expertly paired with food tastings courtesy of Grapetree Bay Hotel. Tickets are $250 per person and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
A 501 (c)(3) non-profit, Taste of St. Croix promotes and showcases the talent and potential of St. Croix’s hospitality industry through fostering partnerships, sponsoring training and industry events, and building public awareness of service-industry importance to the socio-economic future of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The 24th Taste of St. Croix will take place on Thursday, April 18th at Divi Carina Bay Resort from 6pm to 9pm. General admission tickets are available for purchase at $125 per person; VIP tickets are officially sold out. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.tasteofstcroix.com.
Written by Anquanette Gaspard
