The U.S. Virgin Islands is a popular tourist destination in the Caribbean, featuring stunningly beautiful beaches, quaint colonial Danish architecture, hospitable people and does not require a passport for Americans. Thanks to high air connectivity, and being a fixture on the cruise ship port of calls lists for cruise ships, the territory has become one of the most tourist-dependent jurisdictions in the Caribbean.
Tourism in the Virgin Islands accounts for more than 90% of exports, more than 30 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and more than 14 percent of direct employment.
As a mature tourism destination, it faces competition from newer destinations in the Eastern Caribbean that may be more difficult to get to but maybe more “novel”. At the same time, the V.I. is struggling with cost competitiveness, especially for daily meal expenditures, average daily hotel rates and average transportation costs compared to larger Western Caribbean states (Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba) and the Mexican Yucatan coast (Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel). For example, according to the Travel Cost Index for the Caribbean, the V.I. ranks as the 14th most expensive place in 2021, with an average cost per day per person at $199.
Recent external shocks — the twin hurricanes of 2017 and the COVID pandemic — set back the local tourism industry, but a rebound is occurring. Notwithstanding the good recovery news, the V.I. has not returned to pre-Irma/Maria tourist arrival and expenditure figures, circa 2016. To return to and hopefully surpass the 2016 expenditure figures, actions and initiatives to upgrade, rejuvenate and diversify tourism product offerings must occur.
New product offering: Agritourism
A product that can be offered is agricultural tourism. As defined by the National Center for Agricultural Law at the University of Arkansas, agritourism is a form of enterprise that links agricultural production and/or processing with tourism to attract visitors onto a farm, ranch, or other agricultural business for recreation, entertainment and education of visitors. In the process, it generates income for the farm, ranch or business owner.
Examples of agritourism
The most typical agritourism activities include: U-pick produce operations; petting and feeding zoos; cut-your-own Christmas tree farms; dude ranches; demonstration plots; agricultural museums; living history farms; agricultural museums; living history farms with reenactments; winery tours and wine tasting; rural bed and breakfasts with a garden or on a working farm; garden tours; permitting camping on a farm; permitting a picnic and other outdoor recreational activities on-farm/garden grounds; permitting a wedding on the farm/garden grounds; organizing an educational presentation for a group and loaning the farm and buildings on the farm for use for a corporate retreat.
Related economic conditions for agritourism development
The agriculture sector is small and underdeveloped and needs a boost. According to the 2018 Agricultural Census conducted by the National Agency for Agricultural Statistics, there were only 568 farms with 47 percent of them being less than three acres in size; 40 percent of operators are elderly; the majority are part-time operators and the average farm sales were $5,906. The district with the most farms, the largest farms, and the most farming revenue was St. Croix.
At the same time, the territory is still facing a deficit of some 500 available hotel rooms due to several large hotel properties still shuttered (Frenchman’s Reef, Sugar Bay Wyndham and Caneel Bay, etc.) because of the hurricanes. In 2015 there were 5,060 hotel rooms and condo units, dipping to 2,102 rooms in 2018 after the storms. As of 2020, the most recent year of available data, there were 4,530 rooms available — a good rebound, but still less than the pre-hurricane stock level.
Since the 2017 hurricanes, many homeowners have become Airbnb and VBRO hosts. The V.I. now has more than 2,000 shared economy hosts, according to Tourism Department reports. This boom has helped compensate for the deficit of available hotel rooms and permitted many residents to generate more income and have authentic interactions and relationships with more visitors. One of the best features of Airbnb hosting is the opportunity for locals to showcase the islands and act as ambassadors, making recommendations and sharing historical and cultural background information.
Imagine if the farmers in the Bordeaux and North Side regions of St. Thomas and central and western St. Croix start organizing farm tours for tourists, wherein the visitors take strolls about working farms, learn about tropical agriculture and medicinal plants, sample whatever fruit or produce is in season and drink tropical fruit juices? In addition, there can be demonstrations of how to make preserves, stir fungi, clean fish, fry johnnycakes, and make sorrel or maubi, all for a fee.
Imagine creating cooperative farm shops that market local farm produce to the general public and targeting stayover tourists who want to cook with fresh ingredients.
Imagine overnight stays on working farms or properties with large produce/flower gardens, either in the home of the farmer/owner or an in a cabin/cottage/tent in the yard located on the property. The tourist guests can enjoy the garden, luxuriate in a quiet, pastoral setting, pick and eat fresh herbs and produce for their meals and live in a space in the short-term adorned with bouquets of fresh flowers and blooming tropical flowers.
Expected benefits
Developing agritourism such as envisioned would yield multiple benefits. It would constitute a new attraction to the territory for tourists and fully complement the traditional beach tourism product. Tourists would be able to visit farms, engage in farm tours, stay on either farm-based Airbnbs or glam camps, get exposed to a bucolic setting, learn about tropical agriculture. Farmers and lodging hosts will supplement incomes and smooth income flows over time. Due to the small size of farms, limited irrigation, and the long gestation periods of many field crops, income is earned just a few times a year. Adding an agritourism product generates an additional income and smoothes income over time, dampening much of the marked seasonality of farm income patterns.
From another perspective, different types of external tourists are likely to be attracted. Those interested in rural-farm landscapes, outdoor activities, gaining knowledge about tropical and medicinal plants, and consuming wholesome local food.
More importantly, not only external but internal tourists will be attracted. Many residents seek low-cost staycations and back-to-nature educational activities, especially for young children. As our territory has become urbanized over the last six or seven decades, many young generations have lost touch with our agricultural past and do not have intimate knowledge of nature.
At present, there are a handful of glamping and ecotourism products in the territory, but no coordinated push to develop agritourism systematically. It is time to do so.
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By Mark and Gemma Wenner, St. Thomas.
Editor’s note: Mark Wenner is an economist, and Gemma Wenner is a tourism and hospitality professor at Southern Illinois University.