TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands – Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has reported a 13.8 percent increase in tourist arrivals to the British Virgin Islands for the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year.
Dr Natalio Wheatley“We just had our second quarter numbers, which came out, which are very good. And I’ll just give them quickly for persons. In the second quarter, overall, we had 211,093 tourist arrivals. That’s up 13.8% from last year, which was 185,558,” Wheatley stated during a recent Virgin Islands Voice broadcast.
Breaking down the Q2 figures, he noted significant gains across most categories. “We have the day trippers at 5,865 versus 4,030 last year. So that’s a 45.5% increase on last year,” he said.
Overnight stays experienced a slight decline, with 84,339 visitors compared to 84,974 in 2024 — a decrease of less than one percent. However, cruise passenger arrivals surged. “We had a 25.2% increase last year with 120,889 cruise passengers versus 96,554 in 2024,” he reported.
For the first half of 2025, total tourist arrivals reached 707,418, representing a 3.6 percent increase over the 683,114 recorded in the same period in 2024.
“Day trippers, we’re up from last year, 11,664 versus last year 7,653. That’s a 52.4% increase in our day trippers,” he stated. Overnight tourist arrivals also grew modestly: “191,089 tourist arrivals for overnight versus 185,293 tourist arrivals last year. And that’s an increase on our overnight numbers of 3.1% in the first half.”
Cruise arrivals also rose to 504,665 from 490,168 last year. Premier Wheatley also emphasized the economic importance of tourism.
“Tourism helps to support employment, support our entrepreneurs, and it provides us with tax revenue to do the things that we need to do for the community. So let’s all do our part to keep tourism going strongly,” he urged.
Tourism remains a key economic driver for the Virgin Islands, and officials say ongoing promotional efforts and partnerships with regional suppliers aim to keep the industry competitive.
Wheatley is expected to provide further updates on the government’s tourism strategy during a press conference scheduled for Friday.
