Government Renews No-Bid $70,000 Contract for Attorney General's Daughter to Attract Visitors to USVI
The government of the Virgin Islands has renewed for another year a $70,000 no-bid contract for Kmisha Victoria Counts, the daughter of V.I. Attorney General Denise George, to "represent the USVI as a tourism destination and to increase tourism and travel to the territory from various target market regions in the Continental United States."
2021-10-13 20:47:12 - VI News Staff
The original contract invited controversy for a number of reasons. For one, the contract was awarded when the world was at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and countries were dissuading travel, or restricting tourism in other ways in an effort to minimize spread of Covid-19.
The contract on P&P, which does not outline a clear directive aside from the short description of attracting visitors to the territory, also had to receive a number of signatures before being approved, including a signature from the Dept. of Justice, led by Ms. George, a situation that created an immediate appearance of impropriety even though someone else at D.O.J., Assistant Attorney General Carol McDonald, approved the deal by signing the contract. The contract was also signed by P&P Commissioner Anthony Thomas and Dept. of Tourism Commissioner Joseph Boschulte.
The second-year renewal only needed the signatures of Mr. Boschulte, Mr. Thomas, and Ms. Counts. Its start date was June 1, 2021, and it expires on June 1, 2022.
When the original contract was executed on June 1, 2020, it was not clear why the Government of the Virgin Islands approved a $70,000 sales representative contract to attract visitors to the USVI at the height of a global pandemic. Further unclear at the time was what the sales rep was able to accomplish when much of America was shut down. In California, where Ms. Counts resides, the state was on lockdown on June 1, 2020, the day Ms. Counts's contract with the Dept. of Tourism was executed. And California — which has had some of the most stringent Covid-19 restrictions — remained in various forms of lockdown for months.
The original contract came at a time when countries were curtailing travel to their destinations. In March 2020, Mr. Bryan ordered occupancy businesses to stop accepting reservations. Bookings were eventually reopened, but were shutdown again in August following another of multiple outbreaks in 2020 in the territory.
In a statement Tuesday, Mr. Boschulte told the Consortium that the department looks forward to continuing its work with Ms. Counts. He also said young and gifted Virgin Islanders should be supported. "Counts, a California-based sales representative for the Department of Tourism, has been part of the USVI Tourism team that has successfully engaged with travel partners to drive business to our destination throughout the pandemic," the commissioner said. "Boosting sales and marketing efforts during the pandemic has proven to be a winning tactic for the Territory, which benefited from an unprecedented quantity of airlift, new routes, and strong visitor arrivals and expenditures since the start of the 2020/2021 winter season."
He added, "Ms. Counts, who has had a relationship with the Department of Tourism predating the current administration, has been busy over the past year helping to stimulate business for the destination, and we look forward to continuing working with her for another year as we strengthen our sales, marketing and film development strategy in an increasingly competitive environment. As a community, we should all seek to uplift and support our young and gifted Virgin Islands and Caribbean professionals as they contribute to the growth and development of our Territory whether they are at home or abroad."
The commissioner did not provide a metric relative to whether return on investment was achieved as part of the original contract to justify a renewal, or any other gauging data that encouraged the renewal for what now amounts to $140,000 in two years.
In the Consortium's original story on the matter, Mr. Boschulte said Ms. Counts was given the no-bid contract because of her "great personality," and because she "is young and energetic." He added that such traits are what D.O.T. needs when attempting to attract people to the USVI. "Tourism is a people business; one of the most important traits is your personality and whether you like people and you could sell the territory to prospective visitors," Mr. Boschulte said in March. He said Ms. Counts went through an orientation process with the department.
The tourism commissioner said no request for proposal went out for the sales representative position. "It was a personnel move," he said, adding that D.O.T. had ended contracts with its sales representatives following the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, and the department has since decided to hire new individuals.
Mr. Boschulte said D.O.T. was attempting to capitalize on a trend that sees young, mostly African American travelers visiting the USVI, between the ages of 27-33. In March, the commissioner said D.O.T. planned on hiring five new salespeople in total.
The contract on the P&P website did not include scope of work. Mr. Boschulte provided the Consortium with a scope of work document that he said Ms. Counts must follow. The document is a general guideline D.O.T. provides its sales reps and was not specific to Ms. Counts. In fact, the document does not include mid-west states as a target area, which Mr. Boschulte said is the region Ms. Counts will be covering.
Mr. Boschulte said Ms. Counts has been submitting monthly reports. Asked to see the reports in March, he said the department would not provide the reports as they may include trade secrets.