“The world will need the Caribbean to help heal. This will be a place to come and regenerate.”

So says Frank Comito, chief executive and director general of the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA), talking to TTG about the challenges facing the region during the coronavirus pandemic. 

He’s not alone in thinking the region’s beaches, nature and way of life will be appreciated by many looking to recuperate after the shock of global lockdown. 

Carol Hay, chief executive of McKenzie Gayle – which represents the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) UK Chapter – agrees the islands’ appeal will be strong for those looking to travel once the lockdown is lifted. 

“Tourism generally will play a big role in the recovery of people – the next holiday anyone takes is going to be such an important one,” Hay said. “So, we will be saying ‘come to the Caribbean, get fit, boost your immune system, be healthy, hike, explore, eat great fresh local fruits and vegetables’ – that will be more important than ever.”

But Comito also urged everyone not to be complacent about the effort that will be required to keep the region front of mind and ready to deal with the bounceback – and the importance of stimulating it.

“Yes, we are resilient and always have been, and we have even better product now than ever, more hotel rooms and even better infrastructure, after so much rebuilding post hurricanes,” he said. “But tourism is so pervasive in our region – six of the 10 countries globally that have the highest percentage of employees in tourism are in the Caribbean, so we will have to get it back as soon as possible.

“When we come out of this, it will be rapid and we will see a spike of movement, and there will be a lot of competition going after that, so everyone needs to be ready,” he added. “We need a dual mindset, one of dealing with what’s happening right now, and one for the future. The approach has to be collaborative and pervasive, with private and public sector working together.”

Economic threat

Like any nation, the countries of the Caribbean will urgently need to recoup tax dollars from their own people and from sectors such as tourism in order to cover potential debts accrued for lending during the crisis, as well as probably having to attract inward investment, Comito said.

He said however that the region had been quick to act as the virus started spreading worldwide. 

Public health coordination and information across the region was galvanised via the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), and the CHTA – which represents around 1,000 hotel and allied members, and 33 national hotel associations – along with CARPHA, the CTO, and the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre, formed the Covid-19 Caribbean Tourism Task Force “early on”. 

“From a few months back, we had been building online resources for people and offering webinars to get people into readiness mode,” said Comito.

Considering the risk to the islands from potentially thousands of cruise passengers coming ashore each day for example, the Caribbean has mercifully to date not been as struck as some countries with cases, perhaps due to such preparedness, monitoring and early communications. 

Towards the end of March, swift and severe lockdowns and curfews were put into place by many governments and ports and airports closed as the smattering of cases became known and the wider world shut down anyway.

Cayman Islands is one destination hailed as an early actor in identifying the threat and shutting down – such action was always going to be painful, but the government provided stipends to struggling citizens, mortgage breaks were implemented and fuel reductions put in place. 

Of course like many in the world, the next scare beyond health of the population and addressing medical resource is the economic impact across the islands, with WTTC figures estimating 700,000 jobs could be at risk in the Caribbean as a result of the coronavirus-driven shutdown.

Helping hand

Jamaica was also fairly swift to act to instigate supportive measures, with its Covid Allocation of Resources for Employees programme.

That included the Business Employee and Transfer of Cash system, which it was hoped could provide temporary cash transfers to businesses operating in the hotel, tours and attractions sector that were registered with the Jamaica Tourist Board. 

Some who lost jobs could perhaps also have tried to access another stream, cash from Supporting Employees with Transfer; like many places around the world, these schemes were initially set for three months.

“The workers of the industry are very heartened by the action of the government,” Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett initially said about the stimulus package. “We are in the process of working out the details of it, but the feeling is one of hope.”

Across the Caribbean, each national government has been seeking to cushion citizens in their own way.

“Some have unique resilience, or recovery, funds in place, some run robust national insurance schemes and have unemployment schemes that can help – some don’t, it varies across the jurisdictions,” said Comito.

In Antigua and Barbuda, where a third of the population relies on tourism and support services, measures include the government “exploring various lines of credit in order to kickstart the whole economy”, especially important in a country without an unemployment benefit scheme, and a promise of “provisions made for those in need throughout society”.

Thousands of hospitality staff were potentially subject to lay-offs, so the Antigua and Barbuda Hotels and Tourism Association negotiated with the Antigua Workers Union as early as possible to allow access to its “thrift fund” during hotel closures.

The government of Anguilla meanwhile had been preparing for the arrival of Covid-19 since late January, including a bespoke website, which also allows for locals to input employment status to give the government an idea of the impact of the virus on the labour force. The government also said it was building an economic stimulus package to support those suddenly out of work.

Carolyn Brown, UK director of tourism for Anguilla Tourist Board, said: “The majority of Anguillans work in tourism and the island was really quick to respond – there are a lot of lessons learnt from previous crisis management situations. Communication is strong, healthcare is well set up and I know we have a lot of support externally if we need it.”

Local impact

The effects of the global pandemic have also been felt locally in Barbados, “especially the critical tourism sector which has seen temporary closure and labour furloughs due to the significant reduction in commercial airlift capacity and forward bookings,” said Robert Chase, acting chief executive of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. 

He added the government had “immediately responded with a stimulus package to provide critical assistance to both businesses and individuals in light of the expected effects of Covid-19”.
 
These include the recapitalisation of the Small Hotel Investment Fund with $20 million to allow small hotels to borrow and blend with other commercial funds so they can refurbish their property during a period of closure, with reduced interest rates. The wider Household Survival Program was brought in to offer up a minimum income for households made unemployed.