The Government House Press Briefing for Tuesday April 8, 2025 took place in beautiful Miami Beach at the Miami Beach Convention Center at the Seatrade Cruise Global Conference. The trade show which is known to be “The Place for all things Cruise” was celebrating its 40th anniversary of bringing together the movers and shakers, cruise line execs, industry leaders and all players connected to the cruise industry in a smorgasbord of emerging trends, insights, deals, and a picture of the shape of what’s to come in the cruise industry.
Governor Albert Bryan Jr. and Tourism Commissioner Joseph Boschulte led the Seatrade press conference.
“We are using this opportunity to solidify our old relationships and find new relationships in the cruise industry as well as the excursion industry,” Governor Bryan said in his introductory remarks. “All in efforts to expand our tourism product and make sure that we have a place people are dying to come to.”
Before handing the platform over to USVI Tourism Commissioner Joseph Boschulte, the Governor explained that the week had already been very productive but that the competition was very stiff and that the USVI was “defending its turf.”
“I am pleased to report that Seatrade 2025 is off to a very resounding and successful start for the United States Virgin Islands,” stated Commissioner Boschulte. “Our meetings have commenced with the cruise lines themselves and their senior leadership to discuss how the Territory is performing and with regards to expectations… We look at ways we can continue to improve our product and remain the premier Eastern Caribbean and overall Caribbean destination choice for cruise travelers.”
The Commissioner expounded on the fact that the USVI is seeing a great deal of success with their overarching marketing to the United States and the global world.
“We expect 2025 to be our strongest year post-Covid,” the Commissioner said. “We expect to see over 1.8 million travelers into the Territory, which would be up from 1.6 million in fiscal year 2024. In great note, St. Croix, which has grown tremendously under Governor Bryan’s leadership over the last couple of years, is expected to see another gigantic jump in 2025.”
Those numbers have increased dramatically from 175,000 to 275,000 in 2024 and are now expected to top 375,000 in the 2025/2026 season. St. Thomas, the leading cruise port in the Caribbean, is also expected to continue to have very strong numbers of cruise visitors in the 2025/2026 season.
“I am extremely proud to say the U.S. Virgin Islands has regained their top spot as the number one spend in the Eastern Caribbean and number two in the overall Caribbean,” stated Mr. Boschulte, explaining that Panama is said to be ranked number one but it is a “Home Port” and that in actuality the USVI is really number one.
The Commissioner explained that the term “spend” is defined differently today than it was years ago when it was basically the total number of boxes of liquor sales consumed by cruise ship passengers. In this day, it has a more broader definition which includes “experiences” whereby passengers are spending money on all sorts of island attractions.
“When we see people moving around the islands they are spending,” Mr. Boschulte explained our number one position in this category. “Whether that’s on excursion or local taxi drivers or just walking around shopping in our stores, people are always spending as they move around the islands.”
The Commissioner went on to talk about the importance of finalizing berthing agreements with the cruise lines who are continuing to expand the size and capacity of the ships coming into the islands’ ports.
“It is important to note the cooperation and the competition between the islands,” the Governor emphasized. “We are fierce competitors with the likes of Saint Martin and some other islands but we still have strategic partners within Saint Martin.”
The Governor also spoke of the importance to our partnerships with Puerto Rico (where we have Home Port) in an age of shorter three and four day cruises. He also mentioned the investment in our tourism product that involves infrastructure projects like the Mahogany Road repaving where many tours travel on this historic road as they bring tourists through the beauty of the Rain Forest.
“We also are looking for the cruise lines to help us with our upland development in our parks and other areas as family cruising is becoming bigger and bigger for us…We have got to make sure that when the cruise passengers come they are having a good time,” Governor Bryan concluded.
As a footnote, the Governor spoke briefly about his hope that due to ongoing discussions between the USVI shipping industry and the Trump Administration, the Chinese-built ship tax would not apply to the USVI.
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