Across the Caribbean similar scenes of desolation are being played out as the most tourism-dependent region reels from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the coronavirus disease made landfall in several countries across the region, the once vibrant economic tourist destination has had to close borders, ground airlines, berth cruise ships and keep much of its usual visitors at bay.

“From the historic towns of the Dominican Republic to the isolated coves of Tobago, tourism employs an estimated 2.5 million people and generates — directly and indirectly — nearly one-third of the region’s economic output,” according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), a United Nations (UN) body dedicated to promoting the industry, last month forecast a 20-30 per cent plunge in visitor arrivals this year. The Caribbean Development Bank further forecasted a 50 per cent slump if restrictions continue until September and a 100 per cent fall if the policies stay in place all year, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also predicted that the eastern Caribbean, which was heavily dependent on cruise lines, will be among the hardest hit.

As a result, there are few places where the economic impact of the pandemic may be as immediate as the archipelago’s 26 small island states and dependencies, many of which are already heavily indebted.

A Reuters news report said that “so far, the Caribbean region of 45 million people has reported about 7,000 coronavirus cases and 300 deaths, the majority in the Dominican Republic. Yet millions have already lost their jobs as revenues suffer from the outbreak.”

In the meantime, authorities are trying to keep their tourism industries afloat and their people safe from the pandemic.

In Jamaica, one of the top-ranked tourist destinations of the region, a multi-million dollar package for tourism-related business operators and workers, as well as a skills training programme, was announced to cushion some of the effects presented by the virus.

However, many Caribbean governments, hammered by the cost of fighting the pandemic amid a collapse in tax revenues, say they need financial help to weather the crisis. As a result, several international agencies along with regional entities such as the Global Tourism Resilience Centre (GTRC) have indicated their willingness to assist these countries chart a path to recovery following the virus.

Just last week, “Caricom urged the international community t6o consider that while some of these nations have a relatively high income per capita— their often single-industry economies, highly dependent on imports and exposed to natural disaster makes them very vulnerable,” the report stated.

— Kellaray Miles