The following information is excerpted from a speech given by Edward Thomas, president and chief executive officer of West Indian Company Ltd. to the Virgin Island Ad Club in May.
Mr. Thomas' comments and information follow:
"Cruise ship passengers and hotel guests participated in the same basic activities in the Virgin Islands, but the degree of participation was markedly different.
FOR CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS:
Activities Engaged St. Thomas — St. Croix
Island Tours 26% — 21%
Golfing 1% — 3%
Shopping 59% — 42%
Water sports 8% — 18%
Scuba Diving 2% — 6%
Other 4% — 10%
Total 100% — 100%
Source: KPMG Surveys
FOR AIRLINE PASSENGERS:
Activities Engaged St. Thomas — St. Croix
Island Tours 17% — 17%
Golfing 4% — 10%
Shopping 36% — 30%
Water sports 27% — 20%
Scuba Diving 5% — 8%
Other 12% — 14%
Total 100% — 100%
Source: KPMG Surveys
We are now going to move into the specifics and for that we will concentrate solely on St. Thomas in both the cruise as well as airline passenger expenditure categories.
Vacationers generally travel as a group or certainly as couples. Statistically speaking, therefore, this survey estimates that each party or group consists of 2.3 persons. For cruise passengers who are in port for one day, the survey determined that they spent while on shore $416.00 as follows:
Food & beverage -$ 43
Attractions – $ 73
Entertainment – $ 68
Taxis – $ 22
Telephone – $38
Tips – $ 13
Other – $ 159
The "other" category includes shopping and you will recall that we said that 59% of cruise passengers did shopping here. The average party of 2.3 persons purchased in the following categories:
Groceries -$ 43
Electronics – $ 230
Clothing – $ 86
Liquor – $ 72
Souvenirs – $ 111
Local Arts – $74
Jewelry – $ 680
Cruise ship passengers therefore spent approximately $270,000,000 in jewelry purchases and a whole lot less in t-shirts. Passengers on Princess Cruises recorded the highest expenditure at $676, followed by Carnival Cruise Lines ($574) and Holland America ($547).
The airline passenger survey was most interesting. Again, the average party was 2.3 persons, however these folks stayed here an average of 6.8 days. Their total expenditure was $2,675 broken down as follows:
Food & beverage – $ 441
Attractions – $ 209
Entertainment – $ 207
Taxis – $ 137
Telephone – $ 58
Tips – $ 73
Hotels – $ 1,286
Other – $ 264
The report states, "not surprisingly, the highest expenditure was the hotel/lodging category with more than $1,200 spent by each party in St. Thomas. As mentioned in previous sections, the high presence of internationally affiliated hotels in the U.S.V.I. increases the likeliness of higher hotel quality and expenditures". As with the cruise passengers, the "other" category includes shopping and we noted that 36% of airline passengers did this. The analysis breaks down as follows:
Groceries – $ 145
Electronics – $ 295
Clothing – $ 137
Liquor – $ 89
Souvenirs – $ 119
Local Arts – $ 138
Jewelry – $ 721
Airline passengers spent approximately $45,000,000 in jewelry purchases and a whole lot for hotel accommodations. This phenomenon is not unique to St. Thomas. Recently, Bermuda concluded its study for 1998 and stated, "spending by visitors in the last quarter of 1998 increased marginally, boosted by cruise ship passengers parting with more cash…extra spending to the tune of $1.4 million by cruise passengers in the last quarter and $43.1 million overall helped lift the figures. Air visitors spent more on accommodations in 1998 but less in the local consumer market".
In summary, the cumulative effect of cruise tourism economic activity contributes $ 1,038,964,000 toward the gross territorial product; similarly overnight activity contributes $ 1,091,438,000 for combined $2 billion industry."