There is no doubt that the revival of the tourism industry remains uncertain and will take longer than expected.
For Barbados where, according to the Central Bank, tourism accounts for 17.5 per cent of the GDP while the World Travel and Tourism Council estimates the total contribution of tourism to be around 31 per cent of GDP and supports one in three jobs, the state of affairs is worrying and frustrating.
Virtually every attempt to resuscitate tourism has thus far been severely tested at every turn.
Mere weeks after the US State Department issued a Level 4 “do not travel” advisory against Barbados among 130 other countries despite our low infection rate and robust national vaccination programme, Britain has kept this favourite hotspot for its citizens off the green list of its new traffic light system for the resumption of international travel.
Barbados and all other Caribbean destinations are on the amber list, with the exception of Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela that are on the red list.
Pundits suggest some countries may be bumped up to the green list after May 17, but dare we hope?
British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced last Friday that travelling abroad for holidays would be permitted from May 17, but only 12 countries, including Australia, Iceland, Israel, New Zealand and Singapore would be on the initial green list.
Shapps explained that the list must be limited at this stage.
The amber list designation essentially makes travel a hassle and cumbersome for Brits.
So that Brits who even if they could manage a trip to Bridgetown, on their return would have to quarantine for 10 days and take a pre-departure test, then a PCR test on the second and eighth day after arrival.
It should be noted that Shapps advised Brits against travelling to countries on the amber list.
He said: “Amber countries form the biggest group, and as with red countries, you should not be travelling to these places right now.:”
It’s yet another blow to Barbados and the other tourism-dependent economies in the region that are working to safely return to normalcy as soon as possible.
Tourism Minister Senator Lisa Cummins told Barbados TODAY the development would no doubt result in” a later-than-anticipated revival of the British market”.
“And certainly what we have seen today, is that all of the source markets are tentative about reopening as all of us are,” she said.
Noteworthy, too, was her concern about the treatment meted out to Barbados and other small island states seeking to recover from the impact of the coronavirus by bigger countries
Senator Cummins declared: “There is something fundamentally challenging about countries making [a] determination about Small Island Developing States that are tourism-dependent and whether or not we have high vaccine rates when they are stockpiling huge amounts of vaccines that they are not using and we don’t have the ability to, even on the commercial market, to get reliable supplies of vaccine.” Enough said.
Britain’s move was also crushing for other industry players.
Respected tourism executive Frank Comito, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s former chief executive, told the Jamaica Gleaner he was “still trying to understand the reasoning behind it”.
Carol Hay, the former marketing director for the UK and Europe of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, who now heads her own marketing agency, McKenzie Gayle Ltd, said: “In the UK, we’ve been gearing up for the resumption of tourism, and we’re very disappointed that no Caribbean destinations are currently included in the green list.”
Perhaps the biggest boost is from the lips of leading industry players like British Airways Chief Executive Officer Sean Doyle who said there is much pent-up demand for travel to Barbados.
We suspect it’s the same for other Caribbean destinations.
Comito suggests the Caribbean has good grounds to argue a strong case to be placed on the green list in light of our vaccinations programmes, low infection rates and safety and travel protocols over the next few weeks. His position should not be ignored.
But there’s a deeper message for the wise.
The Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region in the world. All destinations are facing their biggest challenge yet and what faces us require a one-Caribbean approach against the more developed that have more resources to resuscitate this critical industry.
We have enough evidence that we can’t fight alone, but together we are a force.
Rather than compete to woo a few tourists to Bridgetown, Kingston or St George’s, the focus should be on common protocols, exciting offerings and delivering the best service as one destination.
Regional integration has stood up well in this COVID-19 battle. We have clear examples of the work of the Caribbean Public Health Agency, the University of the West Indies, vaccine sharing and more — tourism should be no different.
It only now remains for the Caribbean itself to become more of a “green list” country to its own people and revive intra-regional travel, tourism and business.
Ending the same severe restrictions on fully vaccinated citizens on those suspected of carrying the coronavirus is one good place to start.
And perhaps now, the Caribbean may want to look within for its own revival and learn, finally, to begin roll out the welcome mat for our neighbours, sons and daughters from across the waters.
Dare we dream?
