The US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism is continuing to urge compliance with the protocols and guidelines that have been established to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in the territory.

The statement comes after the first week of the return of leisure travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“Together with our colleagues in the Department of Health, the Virgin Islands Port Authority, the VI National Guard, and the Office of the Governor, we have gone to great lengths to invest in public awareness, training, technology and implementation to ensure that visitors and residents are as protected as possible from COVID-19 infection,” said USVI Commissioner of Tourism Joseph Boschulte.

Since September 19, 2020, when hotels and other accommodation providers were permitted to accept new check-ins, hundreds of guests – the majority of whom were pre-screened through the Department of Tourism’s Travel Screening Portal – have arrived through the territory’s air and sea ports. 

The pre-screening process now requires that all travelers aged five and older, without regard to the COVID-19 positivity rate in the visitor’s state of residence, submit evidence of testing for the virus.

“Now, more than ever, we need our industry partners – taxi operators, accommodations providers, tour guides, restaurants and activities – as well as every Virgin Islander to stay diligent in practicing and enforcing the rules that have been set forth,” said USVI Governor Albert Bryan Jr.

As the territory continues to experience a decline in active COVID-19 cases, tourism, health and other officials are mindful that spikes or surges can quickly and easily occur if front line workers and other stakeholders become relaxed in enforcing compliance, both among employees and visitors.

Seeking to avoid a similar uptick in positive cases to the one that forced the territory’s August 17, 2020, return to the “Stay-at-Home” phase of its COVID-19 response, Commissioner Boschulte and his colleagues are reminding their tourism partners of that “unwelcome possibility” should complacency set in.

The commissioner expressed his gratitude to residents of the Virgin Islands for their overwhelming support, patience and cooperation over the past six months as the territory has sought to find the balance between “protecting lives and re-injecting life into our tourism-dependent economy.”

The USVI is urging stakeholders to ensure their practices are in accordance with the published standards and proper procedures for operating reception and concierge facilities; cleaning and housekeeping; managing dining rooms; and providing technical and maintenance services. 

Specific guidance has also been developed for taxi, van, safari and limo services; restaurants and lodging facilities.

“We value our partners immensely and we are confident they will continue to cooperate with us to ensure our guests experience the best we have to offer in the U.S. Virgin Islands, including sun, sand, sea and safety,” said Boschulte said.

The post USVI Urging “Strict Compliance” With Heath Protocols appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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“It’s just that I’d rather die of drink than of thirst” — James Bond in Ian Fleming’s Thunderball 

The guests to Ian Fleming’s Goldeneye villa in Jamaica were welcomed with a singular cocktail called the “Old Man’s Thing.”

The recipe for the mixture, as “Shaken,” the official 007 cocktail book recounts, included a peeled orange and lime; a few bottles of rum and, perhaps most crucially, a lit match. 

Fleming drank the cocktail exclusively in Jamaica, at the Goldeneye estate where he created the James Bond character and wrote all of the James Bond novels. 

It’s fitting, then, as Bond returns to Jamaica this year, that he should have a rum worthy of a Double-0. 

The new release is called 007 Limited Edition Blackwell Fine Jamaican Rum, and it’s a special bottling timed for the launch of “No Time to Die.” 

Of course, there’s far more to the connection than a fiery cocktail. 

Blackwell, which first launched back in 2008, is the brainchild of music mogul Chris Blackwell, perhaps best known as the man who first signed Bob Marley. 

Of course, Blackwell is also the owner of Fleming’s aforementioned Jamaican villa, Goldeneye, now a sought-after luxury resort. 

And his connection with Fleming and the Bond franchise runs deep.

Blackwell, whose mother, Blanche, was Ian Fleming’s neighbor next to Goldeneye (and said to be a “muse” for the Bond novels). 

And Chris himself was a location scout on the first Bond film, Dr. No, and even made a cameo, enjoying lunches with Fleming as a child. 

“James Bond has been a big part of my life,” Blackwell says. “It was a pleasure working alongside the No Time To Die production team in Jamaica providing our iconic rum for the set in James Bond’s house, which has made this very special relationship come full circle.”

The film, which begins with a retired Bond at leisure in a Jamaican villa, is the first Bond film to use Jamaica as a filming location since Live and Let Die in 1973, which, among other stops, saw Bond stay inside a cottage at Montego Bay’s Half Moon resort posing for the fictional island of San Monique. 

Indeed, Jamaica, as  producer Barbara Broccoli said at the film’s production launch event last year, is the “spiritual home” of James Bond. 

And that brings us to Blackwell 007. 

Blackwell is made by J. Wray & Nephew, Jamaica’s leading rum distillery (a company that Chris Blackwell’s family actually owned), and shaped by Appleton Estate’s master blender, Joy Spence. 

So what’s it like?

The aroma has notes of caramel, vanilla, almond and a hint of spice. 

The flavor profile is marked by notes of dried apricot, pineapple, mango, black pepper, coffee; and one of the signature notes of Jamaican rum: banana funk. 

It’s very smooth, but it’s also filled with personality, a tropical partnership of elegance and boldness, with a wonderful drinkability. 

It’s a very fine rum, one that works rather well neat or, if you like, in a cocktail.

Just don’t forget to bring a match. 

For more, visit Blackwell Rum. 

Rum Journal Rating: 92 Points

— CJ

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St Maarten’s largest resort is slated to reopen next month, Caribbean Journal has learned. 

The all-inclusive Sonesta Maho Beach Resort is reopening its doors on Oct. 29, according to Sonesta. 

The 10-acre, 420-room resort is the largest in St Maarten. 

It will be reopening with a major new look first inaugurated last year after a dramatic reconstruction in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

The company’s other St Maarten resort, the 130-suite Sonesta Ocean Point, is already open and welcoming guests. 

St Maarten reopened for tourism earlier this summer, and is currently requiring incoming travelers to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test result within five days prior to arrival to the island. 

Accordingly, Sonesta, the leading resort brand in Dutch St Maarten, has announced a program that offsets the costs of mandatory testing, with a resort credit of up to $120 per person for visitors to the property. 

“We know that today more than ever before, there are many things to think about when making the choice to travel, and while safety and security and the health of your family is paramount, cost is also high on that list,” said Sonesta Resorts Sint Maarten’s new Director of Sales & Marketing Michele Olivier. “By alleviating the testing cost, we want our guests to feel that we’ve got their back from the beginning.

The credit can be used for extras like spa treatments, premium bottles of wine and other property amenities. 

“We love travel, and for those who have the means to get on a plane and come visit us, we want them to be able to use that money spent on testing during their vacation,” Olivier said. “They have earned it.”

For more, visit Sonesta St Maarten. 

— CJ

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