British Virgin Islands Tourism

The British Virgin Islands Tourist Board

• Established in 1969 as a Statutory Body under Act Chapter 280, Ordinance 1969
• Aims to develop and promote the British Virgin Islands tourism product and market the British Virgin Islands
• Opened its first office on Main Street in 1972, with Mr. Richard Bathan as the first staff member and Executive Secretary to the Board

Vision and Mission

• Vision: To establish the British Virgin Islands as the premier tourism destination in the region with sustainable use of its natural resources and unique qualities
• Mission: To lead the Tourism sector for the British Virgin Islands with purpose, pride, and excellence, ensuring sustainability of the product and high-quality visitor experience

Goals

• Increase the economic contribution to the British Virgin Islands by attracting higher spending visitors and increasing the number of visitors, especially repeat visitors
• Provide a superior destination experience for visitors by developing and expanding the number and quality of product offerings
• Solve the issue of seasonality of the tourism cycle
• Adopt and promote a more sustainable approach to tourism development
• Build and sustain a close working relationship between the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board and the business trade, product partners, and media
• Increase public awareness of the importance of tourism to the British Virgin Islands economy
• Work as a proactive, effective, and efficient team of Tourism professionals investing and focusing on action that brings the most return on investment, in the most sustainable way

Tourism Value to the BVI

• Tourism provides value to a destination in several ways, including economic, social/cultural, and environmental
• In 2013, Tourism contributed US$277,896,000 GDP or 30.35% to the total GDP of US$915,601,000

The Role of the Tourism Sector

• Tourism development can affect the livelihood strategies of local households, the business climate for small enterprise development, and the infrastructure or natural resource base of the destination
• Tourism tends to employ a relatively high proportion of women and helps them to purchase products produced by women in the informal sector, enhancing their economic positions and helping overcome gender barriers
• The tourism sector has a key role to play in planning for and responding to natural disasters, which often have particularly serious effects on poor communities