JD_Midnight said:
Are there really 300,000 visitors or 300,000 visitor overnight days? Somewhat different. In any case with a tiny place like BVI vs SJU and the already targeted STT can't really see much real likely of EIS becoming a major draw ... even if the planes could land there. For anybody coming from the west a Miami route would offer nothing... Just more mainland connections and likely limit you to a red eye start. For us, major airline into SJU has been great. A new carrier into EIS may help but seaborne has done us well so far.
During 2015 over 393,000 visitors spent at least one night on one of the islands or a boat visiting one of the islands. Over 200,000 of those individual visitors are sleeping on boats. The overnight night day number would be much higher and of value to those renting boats and other beds.
The Caribbean and the BVI are primarily a hospitality destination for Northeast Coast US visitors and it is likely to stay that way. Even Houston is suspect as a market worth pursuing. The next potential market would be Europe with some home Latin or South America will play a part at some point. Martinique and St. Martin have wide body jets landing direct from Paris and Europe. I am not familiar with any Caribbean service from LAX. The business to focus on is Boston, Greater New York, and DC.
