StormJib said:The key to BVI success is the same or fewer visitors spending more money in the islands each day they are here. Each villa bed or hotel room should be on a path to rent for more each night. Each bar and eatery on a path to sell the same or fewer drinks for more revenue. None of that is sustainable without cutting the hassles to get on and off the islands. For those that think I am crazy. Please note there are now many bareboats in the BVI with rates north of $20,000 per week and those boats are the first to book.
Well.. I think you are crazy. Let's take Moorings as an example. 200 boats. About 12 (I think) of them are their 58 foot cats - Upwards of $25-30k fully crewed. That's a small percentage. And we're not talking a single family taking out a boat that size. We're talking at least 5 cabins - that's $5-6k a cabin. $5-6k for an all-inclusive is on the high side, but not crazy. The bigger question is how many of those people return regularly? Multiple times a year?
Much more popular are the boats where you might be looking at $2-3k a cabin or less. And this seems to be the group that returns frequently.
Raise the hotel rates, raise the food and drink prices and at best places might make the same they make now, because I'm sure fewer people would be spending. Regardless of what happens with prices, we'll still spend the same amount at restaurants and bars. Prices rise, we'll just east/drink out less to keep our budget where it is.
I'm still not sure how getting to the BVI is a hassle... especially if you think money is the driving factor.. Just fly to San Juan and take a Cape Air flight or if you prefer a larger plane, Seaborne. Or charter a private flight. Or fly into St. Thomas and you can even do the same or a helicopter flight to Tortola, not to mention the ferry.
Only hassle that would be eliminated with a direct flight from Miami would be for the person starting in Miami as they have a single flight. For everyone else, you'd still be switching planes.
