New Carrier to Provide Flights Between St. Croix and St. Thomas Within 60 Days, VIPA Executive Director Says

The availability of air service between St. Thomas and St. Croix is expected to improve within the next two months, according to Carlton Dowe, executive director of the V.I. Port Authority. "Up to today the governor and I were in discussions with a new carrier that we believe will be able to get into this territory, doing an inter-island route within the next 60 days," Mr. Dowe told senators on the Committee on Economic Development and Agriculture Wednesday evening. While he stopped short of naming the carrier, the VIPA executive appeared confident of a deal being struck with the Port Authority soon.

USVIHTA Annual General Meeting April 11 - RSVP Today!

USVIHTA will hold its Annual General Meeting on April 11 at 10 a.m. at The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas. Members will hear from the association and its board members on HTA and industry updates. Gov. Albert Bryan will also join as guest speaker. During the meeting, members will vote on the Board of Directors. Please click here to view the 2023 Election Slate. Click here to read nomination bylaws. Thank you to HTA member Viya for sponsoring the meeting. RSVP with Lisa Hamilton at lisa@usvihta.com. Maximum of three attendees per company.

You're Invited to the VISIT Reception on March 30!

USVI Approved for up to $57.8 Million Under the SSBCI Program to Help Local Small Businesses

To continue supporting local small businesses and entrepreneurship, and to expand their access to capital in the U.S. Virgin Islands through local banks, the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority (VIEDA) announces that the U.S. Virgin Islands was approved to receive up to $57.8 million in funding under the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) in President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Under the SSBCI Program in the USVI, small businesses can seek financial assistance from approved programs through local banks that are participants of the USVI SSBCI Program.

CTO Reports Promising Outlook for the Region in 2023

Despite global pressures such as high inflation, the war in Ukraine, the ensuing energy crisis and an impending economic recession, the outlook for Caribbean travel and tourism is favorable, according to the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). Delivering the region’s 2022 “Tourism Performance and Outlook Report” in Bridgetown this week, Neil Walters, Acting Secretary General of the CTO, confirmed that the Caribbean had one of the quickest recovery rates globally in 2022, with 28.3 million registered tourist visits in 2022. This represents 88.6 percent of the visitors who arrived in 2019, which served as the baseline year for typical tourism activity before the pandemic.