Thursday morning, St. Thomas-St.John and St. Croix Hotel & Tourism Association board members and strategic partners met via Zoom with Commissioner of Tourism Joseph Boschulte. During the meeting, Boschulte highlighted current and 90-day airlift announcing a new destination – Minnesota – added to Delta Air Lines for St. Thomas in December. There will also be a direct flight from Charlotte to St. Croix beginning Thanksgiving. Additionally, the commissioner noted they will be spending more advertising dollars marketing the marine industry. Also of note, the cruise industry continues to struggle with return and protocols for destinations. The department will have a full marketing plan rollout prior to Thanksgiving. Click here to view the video from the meeting and here to view the chat transcript.

Please click the links below to read our recent updates. Keep in mind that statistics are changing daily as we learn more, so some of the information from our updates may have changed. You can also visit doh.vi.gov/covid19usvi for more information. To receive updates, alerts and notifications on COVID-19 in the USVI, TEXT “COVID19USVI” to 888777. If you suspect you have symptoms or if you have questions, please call the Health Department’s Epidemiology Division Hotline: 340-‪712-6299 (STX) and 340-‪776-1519 (STT & STJ).

University of the Virgin Islands sophomores Omaira Rachid and J’Mari Clarke were awarded $5,000 in scholarships on Oct. 2 from the USVI Hotel and Tourism Association Education and Training Committee. Both students received $2,500 toward furthering their education. "It is vital during these uncertain times that we uphold our mission to support continuing education and training," said USVIHTA President Lisa Hamilton. "Every one of us has felt the repercussions of the current economic climate and health crisis, and we must ensure that our future industry leaders have the resources they need to succeed." Read more.

The FUTURE of Augmented Reality is NOW - right here in St. Thomas, USVI! Have your team or guests experience the future during an immersive Tropical Treasure Hunt. Become a pirate or a secret agent for a day and use this amazing new technology for a memorable adventure in the Caribbean! Book directly off the website: https://www.tropicaltreasurehunt.com/treasure-hunts. Do your concierges, management or sales team want to try it? Tropical Treasure Hunt provides great deals to USVIHTA members to help them describe this one of a kind experience to their guests. Click here to view photos of the experience! Click the video to the right to learn more!

IGY’s Yacht Haven Grande, St. Thomas has recently been bestowed the Towergate 2020 International Superyacht Marina of the Year by The Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA). Yacht Haven Grande, St. Thomas is the only marina in the world to have received this prestigious award three times in 2016, 2019 and 2020. TYHA, one of the oldest international yachting associations in the world, partnered with Towergate Insurance to recognize the best marinas from around the world. This amazing achievement follows the 2019 elevation of Yacht Haven Grande’s status as a 5 Gold Anchor Marina to the coveted 5 Platinum Anchor level. Read more.

Coral World’s dolphin welfare specialists often heard from guests during existing interactive dolphin programs that they would really like to see the dolphins swimming underwater. Coral World Curator Lee Kellar said, "The dolphin and dive teams heard the call and went to work. Over the course of six months, they developed a new program – Dolphin TREK - that combines two of our very special activities: helmet diving and swimming with dolphins." Read more.

For a limited time only, Little Switzerland is offering two very special financing plans with reduced minimum purchase amounts: 12 months interest-free -- $295 minimum purchase (was $995); 24 months interest-free -- $1,995 minimum purchase (was $5,995). If you are not a current Little Switzerland credit card holder, click here for more details and to apply. This very special offer is only available until Oct. 31. Shop online or by calling your favorite store manager or our personal shopping consultants for duty-free or special pricing - 877-800-9998 - shop@littleswitzerland.com - Monday: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST. Tuesday - Friday: 8 a.m. - 11 p.m. EST. Saturday: 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. EST.

The VISBDC wants to let our community know that we are available to assist local businesses in the Virgin Islands. St. Thomas/St. John call 340-693-1694; St. Croix call 340-692-4294; email us: info@visbdc.org. Click here to read more about upcoming webinars, financial assistance, COVID-19 assistance and more.

Dreams of entrepreneurship resonated within the minds of young men this summer as the Enterprise Zone Commission (EZC), in partnership with the Office of the Territorial Public Defender of the U.S. Virgin Islands and USVI non-profit organization Youth Arise, Inc., hosted EntrepreNow in the USVI. EntrepreNow was held virtually this year, in partnership with OmniSystems, LLC, from Aug. 17 to 21 due to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Read more.

Join FEMA at 10:15 a.m. on Oct 15 and "Drop, Cover and Hold On" for International ShakeOut Day. At this time in each time zone, millions of people from all over the world will practice earthquake safety. You can ShakeOut when and where you want. While some ShakeOut drills and other activities may happen as usual, there are some new considerations. Read more.

Inviting all CHTA members to join us for our Annual General Meeting. Should you be unable to attend the meeting, we encourage you to attend via proxy, which would allow another active member to attend and vote on your behalf. Please click here for the proxy form. If you need assistance in determining who might be eligible to represent you via proxy should you not be able to attend, please contact CHTA at information@caribbeanhotelandtourism.com. If attending via proxy, please submit the proxy form to information@caribbeanhotelandtourism.com by Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. EST. Should you have any questions about the election and the upcoming AGM, please contact Frank Comito at frank@caribbeanhotelandtourism.com. Register today. View Annual General Meeting agenda and minutes.

More from regional partners:

My Brother's Workshop is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing hope and purpose to at-risk and high-risk youth, ages 16-24, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. MBW's holistic approach of mentorship, education, mental health counseling, on the job training and job placement has helped over 1200 young people choose a better path, further their education and ultimately change their lives. MBW is beginning to take orders for the holidays and we thought you and your company may be interested in these personalized items for your employees or clients. All of the products are laser engraved at the MBW Workshop by trainees and all proceeds from orders go back into furthering the mission of the program. If you have any questions please let us know. You may contact MBW directly to place your order at communications@mybrothersworkshop.org or by calling 340-715-2769. Click the flyer to the right to expand. Click here to view the MBW Booklet.

Some people view the number "one" as an insignificant number. One of anything is not enough. In the business sense, having "only" one customer might be considered dismal. On the contrary, by learning how to cherish that one customer, you will learn how to attract and retain many more. By not slowing down, appreciating and being thankful for one, we miss the true beauty of how fortunate we actually are. Sometimes having no customers is the best medicine to re-focus on how important one customer is. Honor that one customer. Give thanks for that one customer. Promise yourself to never take that one customer for granted ever again. Find a way to keep that one customer happy and engaged. Read more.