Regional travel down but CHTA offers remedies

Caribbean tourism is estimated to have suffered $2 billion (US$1 billion) in losses during 2021 as a result of stagnation in travel between the region’s destinations.

As a result, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) is recommending that governments and private sector leaders come up with a more concerted effort “to boost intra-regional travel, while fostering greater parity, clarity and consistency for travel”.

High among the CHTA recommendations are a reduction in travel taxes and a reduction in the cost for COVID-19 tests.

While international travel to the region has rebounded to 75 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, intra-regional business and leisure travel has dropped to around 30 per cent, with smaller Caribbean economies and small businesses hit particularly hard, according to CHTA President Nicola Madden-Greig.

Visitor arrivals to Bridgetown from the Caribbean was down to only about 14.6 per cent of 2019 figures, recording 16,577 in arrivals compared to 113,616. In 2020 Barbados welcomed some 23,793 visitors from the region.

The average number arrivals from the region to Barbados were around the 100,000 mark prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which started to affect the region in March 2020.

Madden-Greig said stimulating intra-regional travel would “dynamize higher local spending, boost trade in local goods and services, increase government revenues and revitalise local economies”.

“Among the steps proposed for revitalizing sluggish local economies were increasing services to revive regional air travel, reducing COVID-19 testing costs, cutting testing time, and shrinking long isolation periods.

“The CHTA also recommended an air travel tax/fee holiday or reduction, similar to that which was proposed to Caribbean leaders by Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister

Gaston Browne, who is leading by example with fee reductions for his country,” the association said in a recent release.

“Additionally, more uniformed and consistent regional travel protocols would reduce traveler uncertainty, while health safety diligence and increased vaccinations are key to speeding up the return of local festivals and events, key elements of intra-regional travel,” it added.

Regional travellers include Caribbean residents visiting family and friends; attending holiday events, weddings, funerals, reunions and homecomings; conducting business; selling goods and services; participating in training and meetings; and enjoying vacations, festivals, sports and other events.

Reiterating the importance of consistency, CHTA, which speaks for private sector tourism stakeholders, recommended eliminating travel barriers that add significantly to travellers’ cost and uncertainty, and putting into place low-risk protocols to stimulate travel.

Such protocols would include asking all travellers in the region to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 antigen test result 24 hours prior to departure when travelling from one Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to another.

CHTA also recommended the elimination of on-arrival testing – and pre-departure testing (when returning home) – for fully vaccinated asymptomatic travellers within CARICOM jurisdictions, while non-vaccinated travellers would be required to comply with the standard protocols for international travellers.

The CHTA said reducing the profusion of taxes and fees leveled on travellers would be a major boost to intra-regional travel, adding that a reduction in travel fees was hailed by various organisations, including the Caribbean Development Bank.

CHTA also reported movement by some governments on working with major regional airlines and the accommodations sector to launch travel incentives to promote intra-regional travel.

The CHTA said the measures it was proposing was “met with receptivity by regional air carriers, who indicated that the return of intra-regional travellers is critical to their viability”.

The CHTA President also cited the broad impact intra-regional travellers have on local economies, spending at a high level on local goods and services and moving around the community more than travellers from outside the region.

“We know that the economic and social linkages are stronger, and the leakages are less as more of the revenue circulates within our countries and territories, benefiting a range of businesses beyond just the accommodations sector,” stated Madden-Greig.

The CHTA also called on regional airlines such as Bahamasair, Caribbean Airlines, Cayman Airways, interCaribbean Airways and LIAT to work collectively with both the public and private sectors to seamlessly stimulate intra-regional travel.

“It is not beyond us to get this done,” Madden-Greig reiterated. (MM/PR)