Jennifer Matarangas King, the commissioner‑nominee for the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism, told the committee the department has bolstered marketing and festival planning and is staffing up to improve visitor experience across the territory. King said the department deployed a bi‑monthly newsletter and a campaigns suite aimed at boosting visibility for small businesses and festival programming.

King highlighted measurable gains in 2025: an estimated $306 million in attributable hotel revenue and gains in airlift and cruise calls, including a 29% increase in cruise passengers to Saint Croix and new nonstop routes to Saint Croix from U.S. mainland markets. “Targeted initiatives have driven a 20% rise in bookings and expanded airlift,” Alani Henneman, assistant commissioner, told senators, explaining the department’s use of metrics from Adara and Tourism Economics to measure return on investment.

Festival planning and safety coordination were central to questioning. King said the department coordinated schedule changes and security planning with the Virgin Islands Police Department and other agencies to manage major events safely; the department moved some festival dates after VIPD advised on staffing needs. Ian Turnbull (director, Division of Festivals) and assistant director Alvin Burke described increased local content in festival lineups and a roughly 60–70% share of festival performance budgets going to local artists.

King also said the department is creating a tourism cultural coordinator/ambassador role to connect culture, hospitality training and youth outreach, and is bringing on greeters and visitor experience directors in each district. Senators pressed on operational details — public restroom capacity, sanitation, vendor licensing and coordination with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs — and were told the team is holding weekly interagency meetings and preparing additional infrastructure supports for high visitor days.

What happens next: King said department staff will continue festival coordination with public safety and port partners and will press to fill critical tourism finance and visitor experience roles before the holiday season. The department requested continued legislative support for funding and for restoring clarity on tariff auditing and distribution.