Data Analysis

In 2019, more than 2 million people visited the United States Virgin Islands, bringing in more than $1 billion in expenditures.9 That year, cruise passengers and day-visit excursionists made up 75% of visitation but only 33% of expenditures.10 On the other hand, the remaining 25% of visitors were longer-stay tourists who brought in the majority of expenditures.11 This demonstrates the significant impact that longer stay tourists can have on the island’s economy, and as such more resources should be geared towards developing these longer stays.

However, cruise ship passengers and day excursionists make up the majority of visitors to both the USVI12 and BVI.13 This day-visit-focused travel industry model contradicts the function of normal tourism, and the USVI, especially St. Croix, which could greatly benefit from the longer-term travel industry growth.

It is abundantly apparent that tourism is an established industry in St. Croix and the USVI; this project merely aims to strengthen it in favor of both native islanders and the environment, ideally attracting more longer-stay visitors that spend more money at local businesses, thus having a greater economic impact.

Air Passenger Arrivals

2017 - 2022

According to USVI Bureau of Economic Research data, longer-stay/air travel to St. Croix after the onset of COVID-19 in 2020 has recovered decently well to pre-COVID levels.14 This is likely because travel in the age of COVID-19 is easier for mainland Americans, as they do not need passports to visit the USVI. However, there are still significantly fewer travelers to St. Croix in comparison to St. Thomas.15 In 2019, only 25% of all air passengers arriving at the USVI came to STX.16 The industry may have recovered closer to pre-COVID levels, but the island still falls short as a tourist destination.

Cruise Passenger Arrivals

2017 - 2022

On the other hand, the cruise industry has not recovered to pre-COVID levels.17 Only a tiny fraction of cruise ships come to St. Croix; in 2019, not even 4% of cruise ships arriving in the USVI came to St. Croix.18 Given that cruise passengers make up most visitors and that St. Croix receives very little benefit from the cruise industry (by comparison to St. Thomas), the travel industry needs revitalization.19 At this rate, the cruise industry is not likely to recover from COVID soon. However, the cruise and day visit market is not serving our goal of improving economic investment and experiencing the full potential of St. Croix’s environmental assets. By shifting the travel industry to focus on longer-term stays, the tourism industry can have a much stronger economic impact on St. Croix.

Analyzing the accommodations industry, St. Croix falls short compared to St. Thomas. In 2021, the average hotel occupancy rate in St. Thomas was 66%, while it was only 55% in St. Croix.20 In their respective high seasons, St. Thomas occupancy rates reached up to 88% in March, and St. Croix reached 80% in May.21 During the low seasons, however, St. Thomas dropped down to 41% in July, and St. Croix dropped to 34% in October.22 For reference, an ideal occupancy rate is between 70% and 95%. That same year, St. Thomas had about 775,000 Room Nights Available, which is the number of nights that accommodation units are available for occupancy in a given period, while St. Croix had not even 300,000 Room Nights Available.23 This data shows that visitor capacity is lower in St. Croix. Even with decent occupancy rates in the high season, tourism is still much slower than that in St. Thomas. To address this discrepancy, we do not want to build more hotel rooms in St. Croix. It is clear that the accommodation infrastructure is already there; we just want to encourage more people to make longer-term stays, to replace the people making day visits from cruise ships. More longer-stay visitors filling out these rooms has the potential to bring St. Croix much more revenue, ideally in ways that can directly benefit Crucians.

In sum, this data shows us that the discrepancy between island visitation and the unrecovered cruise industry creates the perfect opportunity to target the longer-stay tourism industry in St. Croix. Tourism is already an established economic driver for the USVI. However, with a much larger port and more tourist-centric programming, the industry is much stronger in St. Thomas. By promoting and effectively rebranding St. Croix for experiential ecotourism, the travel industry can reach a broader market, encouraging greater spending and longer stays.

Recommendations

To appropriately address the findings of this data and find ways to encourage the evolution of the travel industry in a way that prioritizes the island’s people and environment, we have outlined a list of policy and practice recommendations. These recommendations address specific environmental issues and ways of preserving island assets, not just for the benefit of incoming tourists, but also to give Crucians a cleaner, healthier place to live. By recommending policies that preserve environmental assets, we can create actionable steps to ensure that the island is safe for all, protecting it for future generations..

Recommendation: Waste Management Plan

The first recommendation for targeting and improving St. Croix’s travel industry is a waste management plan. Reducing litter and maintaining clean, livable land is key to environmental preservation. By managing waste and disposal, St. Croix can better preserve its beautiful vernacular landscape. To do this, we recommend that the island continues phasing out plastic, effectively protecting both marine and land environments while reducing carbon footprints. In the spirit of the 2022 law banning single-use, nonrecyclable plastic bags, continuing to phase out plastic would greatly improve the island’s waste issue. Additionally, St. Croix can greatly benefit from litter and landfill control. By creating more accessible waste disposal sites, we could mitigate illegal dumping in guts and undesignated locations. Currently, the island’s two dump sites have inconsistent hours and increasing tipping fees and stable waste disposal sites would provide great benefit to the island. However, this cannot be done without providing the VI Waste Management Authority with more consistent support and funding. By ensuring stable funding, the industry can reduce worker strikes and service unreliability.

Recommendation: Open Space and Environmental Protection Plan

The second recommendation, an open space and environmental protection plan, is aimed at proactively protecting St. Croix’s open space so that the island can be viewed as a destination that tourists want to visit for both its beauty and forwardthinking approaches to environmental preservation. This plan should continue banning environmentally hazardous materials, like the existing law prohibiting sunscreens with ingredients that are harmful to the coral reef. It should also have stricter development guidelines and limitations in locations where the environment needs to be preserved –specifically the coral reef, rainforest, mangroves, guts, and beaches. These assets are hubs of biodiversity, and the protection of island species is highly dependent on the preservation of these landscapes. One of the most effective ways that St. Croix can protect these landscapes is by regulating land use and preserving existing open spaces.