Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
US & British Virgin Islands Today
Economic Perils
Both the US and British Virgin Islands use the US dollar as their currency, and both import
most of their goods - cars, clothes, food - from America. They also get most of their tour-
ists from America, so when the economy there melted down in 2008, the islands felt the
fallout. In the USVI especially, where tourism accounts for 80% of GDP and employment,
hoteliers, restaurant owners, taxi drivers and shopkeepers have struggled. And though the
BVI depends on tourism for only about 45% of its income, the other pillar of its economy
- offshore company registration - nosedived in the economic downturn, too. Accountants,
lawyers and other tax-haven professionals have seen far fewer wealthy clients. Both territor-
ies strive to diversify with new, tax-incented business, such as the Captain Morgan distillery
on St Croix, but such opportunities are few, so it's back to courting cruise ships and honey-
mooners.
Green Tension
Everyone wants a piece of paradise, and in the 1980s, developers provided it. St Thomas
and Tortola, in particular, saw resort and villa construction boom with reckless abandon.
The pace had slowed by the time the new millennium rolled around, when islanders realized
