1. Introduction
The West Indies Yacht Club Resort (WIYCR), located on the island Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) has been experiencing operational difficulties during the recent two years. Herein, I will first provide a brief overview of the tourism industry of BVI that is quintessential for better understanding of the situation as a whole. Subsequently, I will analyze the causes of the resort 's ails and conclude delineating possible cures.
2. BVI Tourism Industry Overview
British Virgin Islands, a former British colony situated in the Caribbean (approximately 60 miles east from Puerto Rico), were granted autonomy from the Crown in 1967. The islands have an overall population of 24,939 inhabitants and the US dollar is the legal tender. Moreover, BVI is famous as an offshore tax haven, boasting more than 400,000 companies in its registry at the end of 2000. As of 2008, tourism constituted 45% of national income, services 88% of GDP.
However, the BVI government imposed a set of stringent labour regulations to protect domestic workers from seasonal discharges, reducing its unemployment rate to mere 3.6%. Whilst such policy is highly effective in terms of unemployment reduction, it poses significant challenges to the operations vacation resorts that suffer from insufficient capacity during peak season and overstaffing during the rest of the year. The employees are difficult to fire as the BVI Labour Code was designed to protect domestic workers against foreign competition. In BVI, companies are required to furnish reasons for an employee dismissal and attend a formal hearing to defend its actions. Work permits for foreigners are granted rarely and only after substantial evidence has been provided that no local can qualify or desires the position.
[ As of 1991, 97.8% of the population are literate, yet employees are excessively reliant on management 's guidance (i.e. demonstrations) in lieu of
Bibliography: "British Virgin Islands Labour Regulation." Lowtax.net - Offshore, Tax, Law, Business, E-commerce Information Resource. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. . "CIA - The World Factbook." Welcome to the CIA Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. .