London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 29, 2025

Local restaurants still experiencing big decline in dine-in traffic

Local restaurants still experiencing big decline in dine-in traffic

By Kamal Haynes, BVI News Staff Several restaurants in the British Virgin Islands are seeing a significant decline in dine-in traffic due to the impact COVID-19 has had on the territory.

BVI News interviewed several restaurant managers who all said day- and night-time dining has been almost non-existent since the government approved the reopening of local restaurants in the territory and extended the night-time curfew just under a month ago.

According to the managers, the decline in business is because of the halt in tourist arrivals.


Pusser’s Pub restaurant chain

Pusser’s Pub, Road Town manager Devon Hamilton said the business has been severely impacted, as it usually relies on the influx of tourists who know to frequent the establishment.

“Since the government has lifted the ban where they have allowed the restaurants to do seated dining, I have not seen any business from that time until now, we are practically running an empty dining room,” Hamilton said.

“Looking at it in the future, I don’t see a way out. Yes, we do get a bit here and there from the locals but that is mainly on a weekend … But other than that, during the week, it’s actually a ghost town in the restaurant - nothing going on, it has actually hurt us very bad,” he added.


Take-out business striving

While the Pussers’ seated-dining service is taking a hit, the take-out service that is also being offered is keeping the business afloat.

Hamilton said he associates the increase in take-out customers with a decrease in dine-in restaurant-goers.

“We have high traffic when it comes to take-out but … normally if we didn’t have a striving take-out business then I assume that they would be sitting in the restaurant,” the Pusser’s manager explained.

“The sit-down aspect of the restaurant is hurting, but the take-out part of it is doing pretty good and I commend the locals for their support and patronage to Pusser’s and I can’t ask for more,” he added.


Other two locations also impacted

Hamilton further said Pusser’s in Myett’s, Cane Garden Bay and at Soper’s Hole, West End were also feeling the effects from COVID-19. He said that the two locations have been taking multiple measures to increase local traffic, including the increase in advertising and discounted rates on several items on their menus.


Village Cay – Little foot traffic

Over at Village Cay, Hotel Manager Maureen Morrison-Jones said all three aspects of the business - the hotel, its marina, and its restaurant service - have been significantly impacted.

She said management had to return to the proverbial drawing board to help boost business during these difficult times.

“With the restaurant, we are getting small base foot-traffic; not a lot because since the opening we find that quite a lot of competition has been around so we have to be going outside of the box and be creative to see how the restaurant can take itself out of the water,” Morrison-Jones said.

“That mass traffic that we’re used to having; we don’t have it anymore. So, what we have to do is just be creative and try to improvise, especially on local dishes and do a lot of food advertisement, just letting persons know that business is open,” she further explained.


Bakery formed out of COVID

Jones also said a new aspect of the business - a bakery which was birthed as a result of COVID-19 - is becoming increasingly popular among locals.

She said this is the second time that a new venture has resulted from a disaster - the first being its conference room, which was created following Hurricane Irma in 2017. That, too, has been described as a success.

“We have created out of this COVID-19 what is called a little bakery which is going good. Locals are patronizing [because of] the way in which we make the local breads. So we find that one person tells another and we find that every other day we have to bake more,” Morrison-Jones stated.


A Taste of India – Minimal activity

In the meantime, Operations Manager of ‘A Taste of India’, Noumi Prasad said his business has been devastated by the pandemic.

“Since COVID-19 came, we lost everything. Before the curfew, we were getting very less amount of customers and since we reopened, we are not getting that much business that can cover our expenses.”

“Some days we have a couple tables dining and a few takeouts’ only. We didn’t see any big activities. I don’t think we are having not more than six or eight people in a night when we are busy still,” he further detailed.


Discounted prices for locals

To increase activity, Prasad said that measures are being taken to attract more locals to the restaurant.

“We are trying to post on Facebook, we are doing lunch specials also - which are at reasonable prices to serve all the locals. But, in the night, we are doing our authentic regular menu. But still we are planning to do something a little different so we can attract some more locals,” he added.


Capriccio di Mare

Manager of the Italian restaurant Capriccio di Mare, Edy Marziali, expressed similar sentiments, stating that the business activity has dwindled since COVID-19.

With this decline in business, Marziali said she believes proprietors should be more lenient with rent to allow businesses to be able to employ at least an additional employee.

“I think the government did a lot to just let us reopen. If the landlord put down the rent, it would help everybody to be open and to bring jobs for everybody else because if you remove $1,000 from the rent you can bring a job for somebody,” she said.

With no set date or announcements from the government regarding the reopening of local borders to international arrivals, the future of a number of these businesses will remain in doubt.

Until then, the only way forward will be to tailor their businesses to attract local traffic to guarantee revenue.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
×