With the economically crucial tourism industries of most member countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) impacted to varying degrees by the coronavirus pandemic, the group is collectively engaged in fashioning a joint tourism policy that seeks to restore the fortunes of a sector without which the region could be confronted with a severe and protracted socio-economic crisis.
Reports emanating last weekend from the first of what is expected to be several meetings of the CARICOM sub-committee on tourism and which was chaired by the Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, reportedly contemplated the multi-faceted dislocation of the region’s tourism sector resulting from severe restrictions on travel that decimated arrival numbers at the various regional tourism resorts. A statement emanating from The Bahamas said that beyond seeking to effect immediate repairs to the multi-faceted damage to the sector which COVID-19 has left behind, the consultations are also concerned with devising strategies for the long-term sustainability of an industry without which several of the Community’s member countries would be hard-pressed to survive.
With an estimated 15% of Caribbean people reportedly dependent for their livelihoods on the tourism sector, the Caribbean is often referred to as the most tourism-dependent region in the world. In essence what this means is that COVID-19 has dealt the region a double blow, impacting both the physical well-being of the respective island populations as well as their economies, overwhelmingly, through loss of jobs. In terms of jobs, upwards of 10% of the region’s jobs depend, directly or indirectly, on tourism.
The Bahamian Prime Minister is quoted as saying that the main objective of the initiative is to create a regional blueprint for boosting the recovery of the tourism industry that goes beyond the return to a condition of normalcy and extends into the realms of long-term sustainability, growth and inclusion. Minnis also stated that both direct and indirect employment and fiscal revenues from tourism had fallen on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figures published by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) indicate that tourism revenue in the Caribbean amounted to US$32 billion in 2018, up from $US31 billion a year earlier. An upward trend continued in 2019 though revenues fell drastically last year on account of the pandemic.
While continued heavy dependence on tourism among Caribbean countries has been, for years, close to the top of the agendas of both politicians and analysts, an indifference to diversification has been strengthened by the increased employment generated by the sector from resorts, hotels, restaurants, clubs, bars and adventure activities. While Caribbean countries thrive on the heavy seasonal inflow of visitors, their economies remain under pressure from the economic consequences of being dependent on an industry that is largely responsible for a multi-billion dollar expenditure on foods imported to feed visitors to the region even as our agricultural, agro-processing, and wider manufacturing sector remains underdeveloped.
