June 26, 2005 – The St. Croix Hotel Industry is shocked at the recent bankruptcy of Dansk Vestindien, the Danish Travel Agency that has provided charter flights to the Virgin Islands from Copenhagen for the past year. The charter offered bi-weekly service to St. Croix and was scheduled to offer weekly service starting in the fall.
The entire hospitality industry was caught off-guard as we have been extremely pleased with the business from this market. The hotels were all making preparations for the expansion of service in the fall.
Association members have reported seeing steady growth from the Danish and other Scandinavian markets since the inception of the charter. However, last weeks announcement left several hotels holding the bag with thousands of dollars in receivables. Fortunately, the Danish government contract has a guarantee fund, which covers payment for guests on island at the time of the bankruptcy declaration. We thank the Danish Consulate for their quick response.
While we are extremely disappointed for not being forewarned about the company's financial troubles, we are still optimistic about the Danish market. We believe this is still a very viable market for the V.I. and St. Croix in particular. We are hoping that both the private and public sectors can huddle quickly, establish relationships with other operators, and work to help keep the momentum going. We are aware of daily flights on both American & Iberia Airlines, which offer access to St. Croix through Puerto Rico and Miami. We need to utilize every available avenue to ensure we can keep up our presence in this market.
President, St.Croix Hotel & Tourism Association
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