Didn't the American people stage a revolution based on the principle of no taxation without representation? Gov. Charles W. Turnbull seems to have ignored that lesson — at least in regard to the tourism industry — when he increased the hotel room tax from 8 percent to 10 percent and vetoed the proposed Tourism Authority.
By his short-sighted, unfortunate decisions, he has, in effect, saddled the territory’s struggling hotel industry with another financial burden without benefit of any significant input into its own destiny.
The governor apparently believes that the only obstacle to increasing the number of visitors to the territory is a lack of money to advertise the destination. This is wildly inaccurate.
The destination itself has a plethora of problems that the government has failed to solve. In fact, in many instances the government’s ineffectiveness in dealing with the issues affecting tourism — including traffic, litter and environmental degradation — remains the crux of the problem.
The governor's latest moves send a negative message to the entire travel industry — and they come at a time when, ironically, the 24th Legislature seems to be working to reverse the "tourism-unfriendly" reputation of the Virgin Islands government. Additionally, Gov. Turnbull is again in direct conflict with his own Five-Year Economic Recovery Plan.
As Richard Doumeng said, the governor has just added to the burden of the few tourists who are still willing to pay the astronomical airfares to get to the Virgin Islands.
How long will it be before our remaining overnight guests throw up their hands in disgust and go to competing destinations such as Aruba, where there is a Tourism Authority – and an official government tourism website?
We hope the 24th Legislature can and will undo the damage that the governor has inflicted on our No. 1 industry, both by repealing the 2 percent hike in the hotel room tax and approving a Tourism Authority. These are issues of such importance to our economic well-being that both the majority and minority blocs should agree on a common course that will help — not harm — our ability to attract more visitors to our beautiful islands.