"Beef Island extension are estimated at $140 per person."

That concept will not play out as a fee on a flight ticket with the major airlines. Tortola will either pay, subsidize, compensate, revenue guarantee the majors for direct flights or they will not serve the market. That is how the game is played.

The costs for tourism infrastructure are best funded as a hotel, villa, boat fee or tax as a percentage of revenue. You simply pay the airlines to carry enough visitors at the times they want to travel to keep your hospitality beds full. Charging people at the airport is just as shortsighted as trying to charge big bucks to park at the mall. Few will come in to buy.

The other option for all the VI is for the governments of St. Thomas and Tortola to join forces and take down any appearance of a border between St. Thomas and Tortola including ferry service direct from STT every hour until one hour after the last plane leaves for the day.

Today is Tortola is going with independence. I do not believe St. Thomas has given the BVI any choice. The BVI will partner with the Chinese to build whatever is needed. You do not have to watch the news long to learn the Chinese are fantastic making deep sea into land. They did not invent that. Look at the histories of Boston and New York City. The other detail ignored by many. The performance of commercial passenger jets are getting much better and much quieter at the same time.


The entire travel industry is in a race to direct jet service that operates near 10 cents per passenger per mile. The cost in money and time to go up and down more than once in a travel day is no longer viable. Yes, there will always be exceptions. You do not want your entire economy dependent on connecting flights and exceptions to the rules in this century.

The real or total costs of anyone landing, transferring planes, taking off again with a connections at SJU is greater than $140. The real or total costs of anyone landing at STT, getting a taxi to chase down an uncertain ferry that may or may not be hospitable to then clear C&I on Tortola, to then get in another taxi is certainly greater than $140. The uncertainty of ingress and egress to the BVI is likely reducing the revenue of every inn and villa operator more than $140 per week or per quest in their investment.

If the math and reality of the hospitality market of this century is not persuasive? Simply get The Donald's cell phone or tweet him with the message. "We have abandoned our neighbors on Tortola." "The Chinese are now swooping in to build a bomber and submarine base right in our backyard." "There are also large numbers of skinny bikini clad girls somehow involved." I am sure The Donald will right the ship in short order.