by Brian Major
Last updated: 3:30 PM ET, Wed October 29, 2014
Disney Cruise Line announced its ships Disney Fantasy and Disney Magic will call at Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI) on 11 sailings in 2016. Disney is partnering with the British Virgin Islands Ports Authority (BVIPA) on a land-based development that will accompany an already underway expansion of the Tortola cruise ship pier.
The pier is being lengthened, widened and strengthened to accommodate larger cruise ships, according to a British Virgin Islands Tourist Board statement. The five acre, adjacent land-based development will feature commercial, entertainment and green spaces, plus shopping and dining including 50 stores and four restaurants.
"We are excited to begin this partnership with Disney Cruise Line and welcome their passengers to experience our beautiful BVI when they begin stopping in Tortola in early 2016," said Sharon Flax-Mars, BVI's director of tourism. "With our new cruise pier expansion project underway, visitors will have even more shopping and dining experiences on-hand when they arrive in Tortola."
The BVI Tourist Board recently launched a taxi academy in conjunction with the country's Taxi and Livery Commission, the Ports Authority and the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College. The academy is designed to "improve the level of service offered by taxi professionals across the territory, providing an enhanced experience for future cruise line passengers and other visitors," according to the Tourist Board statement.
In July, BVIPA secured a $35 million loan from First Caribbean International Bank to help fund the $52 million pier expansion. In addition to the pier renovation and land-based visitor facilities, the expansion will include the development of a boardwalk and enhancement of the excursion dock facility plus additional dredging and land reclamation work.
BVIP had earlier announced cruise passenger traffic agreements with Disney and Norwegian Cruise Line that will bring an additional 425,000 annual visitors to the territory by 2015. The British Virgin Islands hosted 340,000 cruise ship passengers in 2013, down from 571,000 in 2008, a decline officials say is due to an inability to accommodate larger cruise ships.
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