St. Thomas

St. Thomas functions as the USVI's tourism keystone: Charlotte Amalie, the territorial capital, received 1.5 million cruise passengers in 2024 across its Crown Bay and WICO ports—983,862 at WICO alone. The territory's record 2.7 million total visitors in 2024 represents 22% above pre-pandemic levels, with air arrivals up 44% over 2019. This concentration creates classic hub-and-spoke dynamics: cruise lines make Charlotte Amalie their Caribbean anchor, which attracts more lines, which justifies infrastructure investment, which attracts even more. Disney Treasure made its maiden call in December 2024; nine ships overall debuted in 2024. The harbor dredging project launching April 2025 (funded by $3-per-passenger fees) will deepen the port for ever-larger vessels—a physical expansion of carrying capacity driven by demand. St. Thomas generated the bulk of the territory's $258 million cruise tourism revenue and $462 million traditional accommodations spending. The Westin Beach Resort opened December 2023, adding to a territory-wide pipeline of 3,000 new hotel rooms that will reshape competition for overnight visitors. Charlotte Amalie's duty-free shopping historically made it Caribbean's premier retail port; today, tourism generates 60% of territorial GDP. Yet this dominance creates vulnerability: hurricanes Irma and Maria (2017) and COVID-19 demonstrated how external shocks cascade through a single-sector economy. St. Thomas has recovered, but the structure remains concentrated.