As cruise sector booms, pier park marks 10

As cruise tourists streamed through the Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park on Monday morning, many paused to watch a lively procession of drummers, moko jumbies and cheerleaders marking the pier park’s 10th anniversary.

A ceremony followed on the lawn, where senior government officials reflected on a decade that included catastrophic hurricanes and a deadly pandemic before the territory clocked a record of nearly 900,000 cruise visitors last year.

Speakers also looked ahead to what could be an even busier 2026. More than one million cruise visitors are expected, alongside discussions about a proposed eco-tax on the sector and a decision about possible cruise-pier expansions to accommodate larger ships.

‘Investment in the future’

Tortola Pier Park Limited CEO Vance Lewis, who emceed the event, told attendees that the pier park was completed exactly 10 years earlier, on Feb. 16, 2016.

“It was conceived as a strategic enhancement to our tourism infrastructure — a modern cruise facility integrated with retail, dining and public spaces designed to elevate the arrival experience while creating expanded opportunities for local enterprise,” he said.

But over the decade following its completion, the pier park faced economic and environmental challenges, with hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Like other speakers, BVI Ports Authority Chairman Dion Stoutt emphasised that overcoming such challenges was evidence of the territory’s resilience.

“We have learned that adaptability is what turns challenges into opportunities,” Mr. Stoutt said. “And perhaps most importantly, we have learned that economic progress must walk hand in hand with the development of our local people.”

Eco-tax proposal

In looking to the future, Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer emphasised “sustainability, modernisation and resilience.”

“We’re looking at how we integrate green technology into our port operations,” he said. “We are examining ways to reduce our environmental footprint while increasing our economic output.”

He added that he recently proposed an environmental levy for cruise passengers to the BVIPA chairman.

“That is not a new concept,” Mr. Rymer said. “It is being charged in other jurisdictions across the Caribbean, and we should be no different. The revenue from that would be dedicated specifically to the preservation of our environment.”

Currently, cruise passengers — each of whom brings the territory a $15 head tax, according to Mr. Lewis — are exempt from the $10 environmental levy charged to all other visitors to the territory.

Mr. Rymer also touted the economic benefits of the pier park, describing it as five acres with “11 buildings, 18 kiosks, and dozens of retail stores, restaurants and service centres.”

The diversity of businesses, he said, helps ensure that visitors’ money “flows directly into our economy.”

Record arrivals

Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley, the final featured speaker, highlighted last year’s record of 875,127 cruise arrivals — a 13.9 percent jump that drove an overall record of more than 1.2 million visitors even as overnight arrivals lagged more than 25 percent behind their pre-Irma high.

“Cruise tourism, though maligned in some corners, has long been an important part of our tourism product, forming one of our strongest economic pillars, connecting our shores to the world, and bringing hundreds of thousands of visitors who contribute directly to our businesses, our jobs and our national development,” Mr. Wheatley told attendees.

Growth

To accommodate the growing numbers, Mr. Rymer said it is essential that the pier park “continues to evolve with the cruise industry.”

Currently, the cruise pier itself is 60 feet wide and 1,312 feet long, and it can berth two ships with a maximum tonnage of 180,000 gross register tonnes each, according to TPPL.

However, it is not able to accommodate many of the world’s largest cruise ships, including Royal Caribbean’s “Icon Class,” which can exceed 250,000 gross register tonnes and carry more than 7,000 passengers.

In his speech, however, Mr. Rymer hinted that change may be in the works. “While we cannot accommodate the largest vessels today, we must keep our options open for the future, always balancing growth with the character and carry capacity of our islands,” he said.

Pier expansion talks

After the ceremony, BVIPA Managing Director Akeem Pickering told the Beacon that various ideas for expanding the territory’s cruise-ship capacity are under consideration, but central government has not yet decided the way forward.

“It is an active discussion,” he said, adding, “We do intend to have a final decision as to the way forward before the end of this year.”

One possibility, he said, would include strengthening the existing pier so it would be able to berth larger ships. According to Mr. Pickering, the existing pier is long enough, but not strong enough, to handle the largest cruise ships.

“We have already begun exploring installing new dolphins … and then also how we can put in more piles from underneath with the existing structure,” he said.

Another possibility, he said, is building a second pier.

“We’re exploring the possibility of West End,” he said. “And maybe what we might do when we look at the West End is put the smaller ships on the West End side and have the bigger ones here [in the pier park].”

He added that any expansion plans would be decided only after carefully considering the potential impacts on traffic, infrastructure and the community.

Mr. Lewis said TPPL has been involved in such talks as well.

“I will say there are a lot of plans — one to expand the dock; two to build a second dock,” he told the Beacon, adding, “But there are a lot of considerations when you consider taking a larger class of ship.”

He also said TPPL has proposed a new strategic plan for 2026- 2030 “where we are looking to turn this facility into an environmentally green facility, among other things.”

The proposed plan is expected to be presented to the BVIPA this week, he added. Though it is not currently public, Mr. Lewis said he expects that it will eventually be released.

Berthing agreements

Mr. Lewis also provided an update on the 15-year berthing agreements signed in 2014 with Norwegian Cruise Lines and Disney Cruise Lines.

In exchange for preferential berthing rights, Norwegian committed to bringing 350,000 cruise passengers to the territory per year and Disney committed to bringing 45,000 per year.

The 2017 hurricanes temporarily derailed the arrangement, but by late 2018 the two cruise lines were again meeting their quotas, according to Mr. Lewis.

After more setbacks due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, both cruise lines were back to meeting their quotas in 2022, he said. Mr. Lewis also told the Beacon that the pier park’s occupancy is “better than 95 percent” with more than 75 tenants.

Also during the Monday ceremony, various awards were presented, including to 30 “pioneer tenants” who have been at the pier park since its inception (see sidebar).