Welcome back!

Singing the blues on St. John VI
In my travels around St. John yesterday, I asked several people how they were doing economically. The feedback was generally rather grim.

A real estate agent let me know that since the beginning of the year, that is in the month of January 2009 not a single property on St. John has been contracted.

A salesperson at a Mongoose Junction shop told me that business was very slow. The shop had cut its hours and consequently her salary was diminished. She said as far as she knew the other shops in the complex were also experiencing hard times.

A business owner shrugged of the bad economic news. She greeted the slowdown as an opportunity to slow down herself and enjoy a more laid back St. John USVI.

On the radio there was a interview of a bail bondsman, not from the Virgin Islands. He was happy. He said that during these tough economic times people had been stealing more and domestic violence was way up in his area. His business was booming. He had to hire more staff and wants to expand his operation into neighboring towns. It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good.

The Virgin Islands Department of Tourism has launched a brand new website – It looks good!!!

Check it out: http://www.usvitourism.vi/