I'll put my flame suite on for the responses to my reply.

"while the BVI continually finds new fees, taxes and surcharges to levy on tourists without actually giving anything back in return."

For my reply "tourists" includes charters, land based vacations, boat owners who store and sail in the BVIs and sailors passing through the BVIs on some kind of journey/vacation. You may not have meant all of those groups, or I may have missed some.

What's the outcome of higher/new fees/taxes/surcharges? Besides the increased revenue for the government, it controls demand. One can argue that it prices out lower income people (and no doubt it does), but what's the option when demand becomes too high? For the BVIs and any tourist "attraction" too much demand in the long run kills the "supply". The supply is cleanliness, safety, availability of marina slips/mooring balls, restaurants, etc. I only started chartering in 2012, so I don't have experience of the "good ole' days" in the BVIs. But I've read enough here and on other sites about how nice, quiet, etc. the BVIs used to be before "it got so crowded" (as I've read). Consider an extreme example of no fees/taxes/surcharges on tourist. Even if the government continued to have enough money to provide governmental services, the demand would ultimately destroy the islands.

The government has the job of balancing the cost of protecting their assets, which includes their citizens and their tourist businesses against the cost to the tourist. One can argue whether they are doing a good job or not, and depending on where you are there are sure to be disagreements on this. But when I've been there over the last 7-8 years I've been a satisfied tourist. If it got too expensive, I'd have to go somewhere else but there are a lot of people with more money than me and if demand got too high where I always felt crowded, unsafe, etc., then I'd also have to go somewhere else. Some are already going somewhere else because it's too expensive or too crowded (signs that demand is somewhat in balance - realizing that any given time "balance" is never exactly 50/50). Will they continue to do a reasonable job? I don't know and everyone can have their own opinion.

But for me (the definitive definition of "tourist" to the BVI), right now I *am* getting something back from those fees, taxes and surcharges.

I'm not discussing increased fees/etc on those that live in the BVIs full time and it's their home. That's a completely different issue and only those who call the BVIs home can comment on this.