Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Mrs Dona L. Regis-Prosper has said the Virgin Islands as a tourism destination checks all the boxes and needs to build on that. Photo: Facebook

The Virgin Islands held its inaugural Tourism Summit Jan.. 16-17, 2025, at Peter Island Resort. Photo: Government of the Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands is among 25 member destinations on the Caribbean Tourism Organization. Photo: Internet Source

Mrs Regis-Prosper was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Tourism Summit held at Peter Island Resort in the VI from January 16-17, 2025.

Speaking with Acting Communications Director Mrs Karia J. Christopher following the end of the summit, Mrs Regis-Prosper said, “The BVI in itself is a wonderful product; you have so much going for you, you check so many boxes, now is the time to build on it.”

Work collaboratively, continuously & consistently- CTO CEO

Mrs Regis-Prosper continued that Premier Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) during the summit said this year is the year for plenty and so advised the BVI Tourist Board to take that message, accept it and build on it.

Tourism in the VI, she added, is “very promising”, but work needs to be done together, continuously and consistently.

'We need to work together'

Meantime, Mrs Regis-Prosper said the Caribbean islands should not look at each other as competitors in the tourism sector. 

The CTO she said consists of 25 islands in the Caribbean among which there are 65 private sector members. 

“Our tagline is ‘One Caribbean, One Voice, One Sea’ and that in itself is powerful because it tells us that we need to work together, our competition is not amongst each other, we should be collaborating towards the Caribbean brand, our competition is beyond the Caribbean Sea,” she told Mrs Christopher. 

There is room for regional and international collaboration in the tourism space, she said adding, “We are stronger together.”

Mrs Regis-Prosper stated that while every destination is different there are some common challenges faced in the industry. 

“[These include] seasonality, climate change, limited resources; these are commonalities within the region and also internationally as well, especially with Small Island Developing States, hence the reason why we need to work together to tackle those challenges together,” she explained.

Premier Wheatley, who holds the portfolio for tourism, recently announced that the Virgin Islands tourism sector achieved another milestone in 2024, with the welcoming of over one million visitors to the Territory.

According to the Central Statistics Office, total tourist arrivals surged to 1,092,139 in 2024, a 9.8% increase compared to 994,896 in 2023.