Efforts on to make coronavirus testing cheaper

The costs associated with COVID-19 tests continue to concern regional tourism officials as travellers to some Caribbean destinations have to fork out hundreds of dollars to satisfy PCR testing requirements.

However, President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) Nicola Madden-Greig is giving the assurance that her organisation continued to work closely with regional destinations to drive those costs down.

“We have been working with partners to drive down the cost of testing. I think when we started a PCR test was in the region of US$200 and we have destinations that have tests as low as US$75 and I think some even lower,” said Madden-Greig.

“So it is an ongoing process. The CHTA is committed to working with our partners in destinations and with the private sector that is offering these testing to continue to drive down the costs,” she told a recent CHTA winter outlook press briefing.

While testing at some private sector facilities started out at around US$200, the prices have since been slashed in half in some jurisdictions. However, the price for testing across Caribbean destinations remains varied, with government costs cheaper than private sector facilities.

While some destinations have removed the requirement for testing upon arrival once fully vaccinated, some still require unvaccinated travellers to do a test upon arrival while others require all travellers to do a test regardless of vaccination status.

Travellers visiting a Caribbean destination may also require a PCR test or rapid antigen test to return home depending on their country of residence, while others may also require a test upon arrival back home depending on their vaccination status and country of residence.

This means some travellers could be required to do up to four COVID-19 tests.

The cost of a PCR test in Barbados at a private facility is US$99 while the rapid antigen test costs US$49. The cost for a PCR test offered by government for travel is US$50.

Up to last month, the cost of a PCR test being offered by some private sector players in Jamaica reached as high as US$150, while testing at a government facility was up to US$75.

In Antigua, one PCR test can cost up to EC$540 (US$200) for travellers who are not citizens of that country and for those who are not from CARICOM. An antigen test can cost as much as EC$260 (US$100) for all travellers.

According to the Ministry of Health in Grenada, all arriving travellers to that country are required to pay a “one-time EC$410 (US$150) Coronavirus test fee, which will cover their day-five test or any test taken while on island.

Madden-Greig suggested that the CHTA was banking on increased travel to help drive down the cost of the coronavirus testing across the region.

“Of course as volumes increase and people are travelling then the cost and the economies of scale continue to kick in and so we would see those prices coming down. We are committed to working to make that happen not only for our visitors for our local population,” she said.

“The Caribbean has proven our ability to manage safe travel and we will continue our commitment throughout the region to health and safety, increasing vaccination rates and continue to lobby for reduction in the high costs of PCR and antigen tests being required by Caribbean jurisdictions and other countries which are the leading source markets for tourism,” she added.

Ana Paradela, Director of Business Development with the Expedia Group Media Solutions, said she was pleased with the progress being made in the Caribbean and Mexico in relation to the offering of on-sight testing at hotels, with many of them offering reduced price on the PCR tests.

“That definitely provides flexibility to the traveller, peace of mind and relaxation,” she said.

“People want to go on vacation and have an incredible time and not think about ‘where do I have to go to take my test and how much it is going to cost’. So we are seeing incredible success when hotels provide those on-sight and they are actually complementary. It works very well and the customers react in a very positive manner,” said Paradela. (MM)